As part of the instruments to be rediscovered, nothing can surpass this year the claviorganum recorded by Il Gardellino for Passacaille in Handel. But if it weren’t for this extraordinary record, the present initiative of Mélisande Corriveau and Eric Milnes would have something to aim for at the top of the charts. The viola overcoat is the highest pitched instrument in the viol family. It is a kind of violin with a more “fleshy” sound, a rare instrumental color, used here in a program comprising two transcriptions of sonatas in trios for organ, one Sonata for violin and basso continuo (BWV 1021) and an Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV 1028). The icing on the cake: the assembly of three pieces for three-voice organ in the form of a fictional sonata. All this works very well musically, the performers are, as we know, very seasoned. Johanne Goyette has magnificently captured the timbre of this five-string viol overcoat made in 1750 in Paris and of Yves Beaupré’s remarkable Flemish harpsichord replica. Superb CD.
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