The Double Concerto has often been mentioned as Bach’s supreme achievement among his violin concertos. But Hope and his colleagues haven’t treated it with awed reverence. Once again, the outer movements sparkle at rapid tempos and with textures that, no matter how bustling, never conceal from listeners the majestic underpinnings of their bass part. The two violins cavort with exhilarating playfulness in the outer movements and weave with unselfconscious elegance in the famous slow one.

Hope and Bezuidenhout explain in the booklet’s notes that they’ve imported some of the figuration from the cognate Keyboard Concerto, BWV 1054, into the Violin Concerto in E, BWV 1042—as a result of conversations with Christoph Wolff. These provide a new twist on a Concerto that can seem a bit foursquare, for example, in the first movement’s middle section. Even if the “Lombardic” rhythms in the slow movement’s bass part sound a bit incongruous, the transparency of the textures and the ensemble’s refusal to plod heighten even further the interest of this monumental Adagio. The finale sweeps by with insistent rhythms as regular but also as infectious as those of folk fiddle dances. The Fifth Brandenburg Concerto enjoys the benefits of similar accelerated tempos, clear textures, and bright, lightweight instrumental sonorities.

Daniel Hope plays with vivacity and virtuosity, and with sparkling, lustrous brilliance, scattering highlights throughout. The recorded sound not only creates the illusion of being able to see forever, but offers seemingly bottomless depth at the moments when the textures thicken. Hope and the ensemble bring Bach closer to the insistent energy of the composer he so assiduously copied, Antonio Vivaldi; and the assimilation does honor to both. Urgently recommended as a visceral way to approach these stimulating landmarks.

FANFARE: Robert Maxham