This sublime arrangement of Bach’s monumental set of keyboard variations, conceived according to its four ace players as “a unique and challenging birthday present to celebrate Nevermind’s 10th anniversary”, sounds like it came straight from the composer’s workbench. The quartet’s persuasive permutations of period instruments—Baroque violin, flute, viola da gamba, harpsichord, and organ—create an astonishing variety of tone colors. Listen, for instance, to Variation 12, a stately canon in which organ, gamba, and violin intertwine while Anna Besson’s supple flute enhances the music’s singing line; or to the vibrant sonorities of Variation 16, delivered with life-affirming virtuosity. Variation 25, remarkable even by Bach’s towering standards, speaks here through the plaintive voice of Louis Creac’h’s violin and its poignant contrapuntal accompaniment from Robin Pharo’s gamba and Jean Rondeau’s organ. Outstanding!