Primarily because of Blanchette's enthusiastic advocacy, world-wide concertizing, and several recordings, the archguitar has developed quite a following--including an additional cadre of performers--and this has resulted in the creation of countless transcriptions and many new compositions. The pieces heard here, taken from two different locations (a church in Copenhagen and a studio at University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and recorded in two different years (1983 and 1985), are primarily arrangements by Blanchette. He performs with fellow archguitarist Peter Michelini, who's also a touring partner. While most of these works are Bach keyboard pieces, it's best to not concentrate on the original versions as you listen. In these fresh, cleanly articulated, and very enjoyable readings we can hear all sorts of new sounds, strikingly vivid colors, and a kind of energy that's different from a keyboardist's fingerwork, but equally affecting and often very exciting. With two archguitars, there's also an incredible depth and richness of texture that's surprising if you're used to hearing Bach transcriptions played only by an ordinary guitar. The performance of Domenico Scarlatti's G major Sonata K. 105 is dazzling, showing the amazing range both of notes and sounds that virtuoso players can achieve.

Blanchette's technical and interpretive credentials have been well documented and highly praised, and on evidence of these performances the citations are deserved. There's a strange little one-note melodic glitch about one minute into his beautiful rendition of Bach's famous "Largo" from the F minor harpsichord concerto BWV 1056, and the balance in the well-loved C major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I oddly skews toward the lower-register part, but otherwise the program goes along without a hitch. The sound from the Copenhagen sessions is warmer than those recorded at UMass, which are slightly edgier and brighter and reveal more of the inevitable finger-scraping and squeaking noises. Try this if you're a guitar fan, or if you're looking to hear some really fine, fresh-faced performances of Bach--with a little Scarlatti, Handel, and Vivaldi thrown in.