Bach: Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 - Abbado (1998)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Matthäus-Passion BWW 244

Peter Schreier, Simon Keenlyside,

Christine Schäfer, Anne Sofie von Otter,

Andreas Schmidt, Peter Mattei.

Swedish Radio Choir & Tölzer Knabenchor

Berliner Philharmoniker

Claudio Abbado

Musicom MC 9802-04

"Und der Seelen Ruhstatt sein.
Höchst vergnügt schlummern da die Augen ein."

Flac, Cover & Booklet

J.S. Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 - Isolde Ahlgrimm (on Pedal Harpsichord)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080
Isolde Ahlgrimm on Pedal Harpsichord
Friedericke Resele, harpsichord II


Tudor CD "Musique oblige" 7030


Among the many recordings of THE masterpiece of JSB this is a special one, recorded on the pedal harpsichord.
Ahlgrimm shows off a great understanding of the whole, using the power of the instrument with great accuracy and not overshadowing the other parts.
The pedal harpsichord helps in clarifying the polyphonic structure, and let the intricate counterpoint emerge in all its complexity.
Mrs Ahlgrimm was a fervent supporter of this great instrument (she recorded other Bach's works: Toccatas, Suites); historically justified or not? much debate about...and this disc is strongly in favour of the former.
Sound is a little raw, but the playing surely is not....

Enjoy!

P.S.  A link to get a little more info about the pedal harpsichord: here

JS Bach: Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Book 2 - Angela Hewitt

Johann Sebastian Bach
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Book 2
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67303-4

'The first recorded performances by a pianist of Book I that have made me want to hear them many times over. Strongly recommended' (Gramophone)

“Admirers of Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt's lightly articulated and elegantly phrased Bach playing won't be disappointed by this recording.

These qualities characterise the playing of each and every one of these profoundly didactic yet sublimely poetic pieces. Her restrained use of the sustaining pedal, her consequently clearly spoken articulation, and the resultant lucidity of musical thought, bring to mind the recorded performances of Edwin Fischer. Hewitt certainly sounds more comfortable in a studio than Fischer ever did, and her technique is more consistently disciplined than his was under these circumstances. Her reflective view of the more inward-looking fugues, such as the lyrical one in E flat minor, is most attractive. Taut, but with a suppleness that's entirely devoid of stiffness, this is indeed cogent and gracefully beautiful playing of a high order. You may sense, from time to time, an overtly intense element of subjective thought in her understanding of the music, a quality which seems to be endorsed by occasional references in her lively, illuminating and detailed introduction, to Bach's 'sense of inner peace', and so on. However, to conclude on a thoroughly positive and enthusiastic note, these are performances of Book 1 that you'll want to hear many times over. The recording and instrument sound well, too.

Hewitt's Book 2 is a delight to both ear and mind. Everything is in the best taste and free of exhibitionism. There are subtle tonal nuances, natural rises and falls of dynamics, well-defined differentiation of contrapuntal lines and appreciation of the expressive implications of Bach's chromaticisms. Throughout her playing of these preludes and fugues – several longer, more mature and more demanding than those of Book 1 – there's a sense of unhurried poise, with flowing rhythm. The air of tranquillity is underlined by her frequent adoption of very quiet openings, many of which then take on a warmer tone towards the end – even the E major Fugue, which Landowska labelled 'combative', is handled quietly, yet she's able to sound contemplative (as in the E major Fugue) without lapsing into Tureckian reverentiality.

Just occasionally Bach's more intense movements tempt her into emotional rubatos which, though musically affecting, take Bach out of his century, and not everyone will care for the big allargandos she makes at the ends of some of the earlier movements. Otherwise these are musicianly and imaginative performances.”

Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

JS Bach: Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Book 1 - Angela Hewitt

Johann Sebastian Bach
Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Book 1
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67301-2

'The first recorded performances by a pianist of Book I that have made me want to hear them many times over. Strongly recommended' (Gramophone)



“Admirers of Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt's lightly articulated and elegantly phrased Bach playing won't be disappointed by this recording.

These qualities characterise the playing of each and every one of these profoundly didactic yet sublimely poetic pieces. Her restrained use of the sustaining pedal, her consequently clearly spoken articulation, and the resultant lucidity of musical thought, bring to mind the recorded performances of Edwin Fischer. Hewitt certainly sounds more comfortable in a studio than Fischer ever did, and her technique is more consistently disciplined than his was under these circumstances. Her reflective view of the more inward-looking fugues, such as the lyrical one in E flat minor, is most attractive. Taut, but with a suppleness that's entirely devoid of stiffness, this is indeed cogent and gracefully beautiful playing of a high order. You may sense, from time to time, an overtly intense element of subjective thought in her understanding of the music, a quality which seems to be endorsed by occasional references in her lively, illuminating and detailed introduction, to Bach's 'sense of inner peace', and so on. However, to conclude on a thoroughly positive and enthusiastic note, these are performances of Book 1 that you'll want to hear many times over. The recording and instrument sound well, too.

Hewitt's Book 2 is a delight to both ear and mind. Everything is in the best taste and free of exhibitionism. There are subtle tonal nuances, natural rises and falls of dynamics, well-defined differentiation of contrapuntal lines and appreciation of the expressive implications of Bach's chromaticisms. Throughout her playing of these preludes and fugues – several longer, more mature and more demanding than those of Book 1 – there's a sense of unhurried poise, with flowing rhythm. The air of tranquillity is underlined by her frequent adoption of very quiet openings, many of which then take on a warmer tone towards the end – even the E major Fugue, which Landowska labelled 'combative', is handled quietly, yet she's able to sound contemplative (as in the E major Fugue) without lapsing into Tureckian reverentiality.

Just occasionally Bach's more intense movements tempt her into emotional rubatos which, though musically affecting, take Bach out of his century, and not everyone will care for the big allargandos she makes at the ends of some of the earlier movements. Otherwise these are musicianly and imaginative performances.”

Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

JS Bach: Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - Charles Rosen, piano

This one won't be everyone's front runner, but certainly worth a hearing. Some think it's a penetrating view, others say it lacks warmth; some that the lines are beautifully defined, others that he's fussy and overly meticulous. Restrained and rational vs. unexpressive. Intellectual vs. boring...
You get the idea. Only way to find out is to listen to it yourself.

JS Bach Goldberg Variations BWV 988
Charles Rosen, piano
Sony; recorded in 1967 (out of print)

JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 140, 147 - The Monteverdi Choir, Gardiner

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantatas BWV 140, 147
Holton, Chance, Johnson, Varcoe, The Monteverdi Choir,
The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Archiv 431 809-2

This is the third disc in John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantata series for Archiv. The works he has chosen contain what are probably the two bestknown pieces in the entire canon, the chorales "Zion hOrt die Wachter singen" ("Zion hears the watchmen sing") from No. 140, and "Jesu bleibet meine Freude", popularly called "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" from No. 147. These masterly cantatas date from different periods in Bach's life. No. 147, in its earliest form, belongs to Bach's Weimar period; but for a Leipzig performance in 1723 he added recitatives, the famous chorale which concludes the first and second parts of the work, and perhaps the bass aria, too. No. 140 is a purely Leipzig piece dating from 1731 when it was sung on the rarely occurring Twenty Seventh Sunday after Trinity.

I have had mixed reactions to Gardiner's previous two cantata discs in this interesting series and I feel somewhat ambivalent about this one, too. Readers will not need to be enlightened concerning performance standards for these are, as usual, commendably high. There is no shortage, either, of affecting gestures in Gardiner's direction which is both warmly communicative and plentifully endowed with insight to the music. No, my problem here lies more with the strength of the interpretations which strike me as lightweight. The opening chorus of No. 140, for example, is a very dramatic affair yet this aspect of Bach's art takes second place to refinement of articulation and gracefulness of phrase. I would not for a moment be without these sterling qualities but the imagery of this great movement is vivid and declamatory and Bach's intention was surely to arouse the passions of his audience. The opening chorus of No. 147 is another radiant piece, this one dominated by a glittering high trumpet. The soloist, Crispian SteelePerkins, plays it almost impeccably yet, once again, I felt the effect was decorative rather than assertive.

The solo singing is by and large excellent. I very much enjoyed the unpretentious vocal quality of Ruth Holton though would like to have felt she had a little bit more in reserve. Michael Chance and Stephen Varcoe are both on characteristically strong form but my greatest pleasure derived from the eloquent declamation of recitatives by Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Choir and instrumentalists are as responsive to Gardiner's direction as we have come to expect of them but even so I am left with the feeling that the great sense of occasion generated by this music has only been realized in part. The Archiv documentation is up to its usual high standard.

N.A., Gramophone Magazine 1992

JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 106, 118b, 198 - Monteverdi Choir ,Gardiner

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantatas BWV 106, 118b, 198
Argenta, Chance, Johnson, Varcoe, The Monteverdi Choir,
The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Archiv 429 782-2

Twenty years intervened between the composition of these deeply affecting funeral cantatas. Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit dates from 1707 when Bach was, for a short while, organist of the Blasiuskirche at Malhausen; Lass, Farstin, lass noch einen Strahl, on the other hand, is a Leipzig work which he wrote and performed in 1727 at the memorial service for Christiane Eberhardine, Queen of Poland, Electoral Princess of Saxony and the wife of Augustus the Strong. Additionally, John Eliot Gardiner includes the little funeral motet 0 Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht in its later version (c.1740) with two "litui" - Gardiner interprets these as trumpets rather than horns - oboes, bassoon and strings.

Any fears that the elegiac spirit might, in this instance be too well sustained, can be dispelled by the immense variety present in the music - variety in form, colour and theological outlook. The central theme of Cantata No. 106, the "Actus tragicus" as it is designated in Penzel's copy, is that of death according to the Old Testament Covenant contrasted with death according to the New Testament Gospels. Cantata No. 198, on the other hand, is of a different character altogether. The author was Gottsched who was soon to become a leading figure in the German Enlightenment; his text evokes a mood somewhat similar to the Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard by his English contemporary, Thomas Gray.

These performances are technically refined and affectionately realized. Anthony Rolfe Johnson is affectingly plaintive in the "Actus tragicus", though not without a hint of vocal strain in the upper reaches of his tessitura, and Stephen Varcoe well-focused, with just the right degree of assertiveness in his aria "Bestelle dein Haus". He and Michael Chance respond tenderly to those sections of the text directly connected with the Crucifixion, while Nancy Argenta makes a brief but lyrical contribution to the whole.

My sensibilities were more readily beguiled by Gardiner's performance of the "Actus tragicus" and of the Motet than by the Funeral Ode for Queen Christiane Eberhardine. My chief reservation concerns the three choruses, which to my ears fail to realize fully the pathos of Bach's music. They provide a powerful B minor framework while at the same time providing a lively contrast with more lightly textured recitatives and arias. I find Gardiner's tempos a shade too fast and the approach in general a little bland. Jfirgen Jfirgens, more successfully than any other perhaps, captured the gracefulness and poignancy of these movements in his Telefunken recording of the work ( [1/67 - nla). Much else here, though, is first-rate and the disc, as a whole, can be confidently recommended.

N.A., Gramophone Magazine 1991

Js Bach: Cantatas BWV 36, 61, 62 - The Monteverdi Choir, Gardiner

Johann Sebatian Bach
Cantatas BWV 36, 61 & 62
Argenta, Lang, Johnson, Bär, The Monteverdi Choir,
The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Archiv 437 327-2

Alas, by the time this piece appears the Advent season of the church year will be over; yet, of course, these three cantatas, like each and every one of the remainder are, in musical terms "per ogni tempo" as Bach himself might have put it. John Eliot Gardiner continues his series for Archiv with works which Bach performed on the First Sunday in Advent - two of them linked, to a greater or lesser extent, to Luther's great hymn Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, itself a metrical version of the fourth-century Veni redemptor gentium, the third a parody by and large of birthday music which Bach performed several times during the mid to late 1720s.

I confess I was not enthusiastic about the previous issue in Gardiner's cantata series (6/92). Too many images and musical gestures seemed understated with emphasis on ornament rather than effect and drama. Gardiner has shown us on many other occasions that he can respond passionately to the music and in this new release he seems to have allowed himself a greater degree of expressive freedom than in the previous two issues. The result is not only a more colourful and relaxed performance but also a more satisfying one. The earliest work here, No. 61, is a masterpiece of Bach's Weimar years, dramatically conceived - the opening number is the first of several in which the composer set the chorus within the framework of a French overture - and containing in its bass arioso one of the great moments of declamatory writing outside the Passions. None of the drama is lost on Gardiner who performs the work lovingly and with an affectingly restrained exuberance.

Were it not for the masterly nature of No. 61, its namesake of ten years later (Leipzig, 1724) would undoubtedly enjoy a higher profile. As it is the piece is too often underrated, suffering from inappropriate comparison with the other. Inappropriate because, apart from name and seasonal dedication, the structural basis of the two are different, the latter adhering more strictly to Luther's hymn. Gardiner gives a fervent and vivacious performance of the symmetrically constructed opening chorus where the hymn melody is sustained by the sopranos. The reverse side of the expressive coin, so to speak, is represented by an accompanied recitative of affecting tenderness for soprano and alto where text and music give us a foretaste of the great Christmas music that was to follow ten years later.

The remaining piece, No. 36, is both the latest and the most extended of the three cantatas. It is also, perhaps, the least even in performance. The strongest features here are the solos since the choir does not always sound completely convincing in the opening chorus with its leaping intervals illustrative of the text, nor the tenors in the later chorale "Der du bist dem Vater gleich". Outstanding among them is the lyrical 12/8 soprano aria with violin obbligato, "Auch mit gedampften, schwachen Stimmen" ("Even with hushed, weak voices God's majesty is revered"). Here the ravishing partnership of Nancy Argenta and the leader of the band, Alison Bury, is all that one could wish for. Gardiner sets what at first struck me as a dangerously slow tempo for this do capo number but it comes over convincingly. The robust bass aria, "Willkommen, werter Schatz!" ("Welcome precious treasure") sung by Olaf B5r, comes off well too, as does much else here.

In spite of small criticisms, then, this is a captivating disc with an outstandingly successful performance of No. 61 and with individual contributions in the remaining cantatas which I shall not want to be without. Full texts are provided, as usual and recorded sound is pleasingly spacious. Strongly recommended.

N.A., Gramophone Magazine 1993

JS Bach: Orchestral Suites BWV 1066-1069 - TEC, Trevor Pinnock

Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suites BWV 1066-1069
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 439 780-2

Lovers of the earlier recordings of the four orchestral suites (the Ouvertüren) by Trevor Pinnock and his English Concert will be in for treat with this new recording. The playing is even better than the earlier recordings and the understanding and interpretation of the music based on many years of experience. I bought this around the same time as Philip Pickett's small scale recordings of these works. I have returned to Pinnock often, but Pickett much less so.

The recording also features some other colourful orchestral works from the cantatas of Bach. These are all played with great style and no small amount of grandeur.

If you can get this recording, then I am sure you will be very happy with it.

Amazon Customer Review

JS Bach: Kantaten zur Weihnachtszeit - MBC, MBO, Karl Richter

Johann Sebastian Bach
Kantaten zur Weihnachtszeit
Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter
Archiv 431 533-2

Not the right season for Christmas cantatas you say?
How can it ever not be the right season for Bach's music?

Enjoy!

Johann Sebastian Bach: Kleine Präludien - Kenneth Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Kleine Präludien
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 419 426-2

Everyone who has sat at a piano stool at a tender age will find old friends amongst the pieces comprising this delightful anthology. Kenneth Gilbert has arranged his programme in four parts. First he plays the eight Preludes, BWV924-31, of the Clavier-Buchlein which Bach compiled in 1720 for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, then aged ten; he follows these with the Six Little Preludes, BWV933-8, and five further Preludes, BWV939-43. A sixth in C minor, BWV999, is also included but was evidently intended for lute. These, like the 1720 pieces, probably belong to the Cothen period. The fourth part of Gilbert's recital consists of pieces on a larger scale. The two Preludes and little fugues, BWV901-02, also date from Cothen. The Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in Eflat, BWV998, is primarily a lute work, and is included in the same volume of the Neue Bachausgabe as BWV999. Where the Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV904, is concerned, one surviving source implies an organ work whilst another the harpsichord. It is also possible that the two pieces may not always have belonged together. Sometimes ascribed to Bach's Cothen period it would seem to me to belong to an altogether later date.

Kenneth Gilbert gives a lively and affectionate account of the smaller pieces whose substance, nevertheless, should not be underestimated. In the larger works his technique and experience contribute towards fluent and cogent readings. Above all, perhaps, he captures the deliberately archaic character of BWV904 with forceful and deliberate gestures in the Fantasia and with clarity of thought in the fine double fugue. This didactic side of Gilbert's artistry also serves the little Preludes whose purpose was not only to entertain but also to instruct. The harpsichord, a seventeenth-century Flemish instrument enlarged first by Blanchet and then by Taskin in the following century, is that which Gilbert used for his recording of the 48 (Archiv 413 439-1AH5, 9/84). It's a fine-sounding instrument whose character has been well captured in this recital. Warmly recommended.

Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone Magazine 1986

JS Bach: Inventionen & Sinfonien - Kenneth Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Inventionen & Sinfonien
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 415 112-2

Even allowing for a proud father's ambitions for his first-born, Carl Philipp Emanuel must have been a quite exceptional nine-year-old to have tackled the Inventions his father composed for his instruction - particularly the three-part pieces (originally termed Fantasias, but later, Sinfonias), with their often complicated part-writing. They now form a staple item in the diet of much older pianists (ride any self-respecting exam syllabus), who could derive considerable benefit from studying the present two recordings on the harpsichord - far more reliable guides, stylistically, than either of the piano versions in the current catalogues - though from a commercial point of view it is unfortunate that these rival CDs should appear simultaneously, since both are highly recommendable.

Given that they feature two of today's most admired harpsichordists, choice must be largely a matter of taste; and so I will outline the differences between them. The most obvious one is that the instrument used by Dreyfus (henceforth D) is tuned to modern (A= 440) pitch, whereas that of Gilbert (G) sounds a whole tone lower at A = 392. G's Couchet, enlarged by Blanchet and Taskin, has a fine mellow, rich tone, and is recorded in rather resonant surroundings (sometimes causing a slightly thick sonority, as in the Sinfonias in F and A): D's Hemsch has a lighter, crisper sound, just occasionally verging on the tinny (in the D major Sinfonia). In general, G adopts a rhythmically more regular approach, while D opts for greater flexibility, making numerous subtle tenutos to shape the phrases (particularly in both C major pieces and in the D minor, E minor and B flat Sinfonias). She makes more use of staccato touch (e.g. in the G major two-part Invention, which G plays legato, or in the E flat and the sparkling G major Sinfonias) , though the roles are artists, and his E major Sinfonia is more giguelike; but oddly enough, in minor-key Sinfonias his interpretations are often the slower and more intense.

This is, I realize, very much an 'on the one hand, while on the other. . .' review; but I can only echo Macheath's words in declaring "How happy could I be with either".

L.S., Gramohphone Magazine 1986

JS Bach: Chromatische Fantasie & Fuge, Toccaten - Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Chromatische Fantasie & Fuge, Toccaten
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 431 659-2

No review available. Not that further introduction to these excusite pieces are really needed are they? Enjoy!

Johann Sebastian Bach: Capriccio BWV 992 - Kenneth Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Capriccio BWV 992
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 437 555-2

So strong and so prevalent is the image of Bach the solid bourgeois, the revered master, the father of a score of children, that it is easy to lose sight of him as the brilliant, self-confident but headstrong youth. The works in this excellent issue, played on a fine Couchet-Blanchet-Taskin instrument in the resonant (but not excessively so) acoustics of the Chartres museum, were all written in his younger days - the Capriccio (one of his very earliest extant keyboard compositions) in his late teens when an elder brother went off to Sweden (and thence to Constantinople), the three Toccatas before the age of 25, the Aria variata (his only set of variations other than the late Goldberg) and the A minor Prelude and Fugue (the one he was to rework for the Triple Concerto) by 30. The influences on him are still evident: Kuhnau's programmatic Biblical sonatas for the Capriccio (whose most striking movements are a lament on a ground bass and the air imitating the postillion's posthorn); Buxtehude, plus Italian and French features, for the sectional Toccatas; Bohm and Vivaldi respectively for the other two works. The Italian commentator here, but not the other language writers, interestingly postulates a violin origin for the Aria variata which except for the theme and the final variation is almost entirely in only two parts.

Kenneth Gilbert's performances are a delight, with his arresting treatment of quasi-improvisatory passages in the Toccatas (though even he cannot disguise Bach's overlong mechanical sequences in the F sharp minor work), his clarity and his lively but steady rhythmic drive in the long fugues (the C minor, which turns into a double-figure, the most extensive of all). Only in the F sharp minor's final fugue did I feel the tempo he adopts too stolid: otherwise the warmest of recommendations for this disc.

Lionel Salter, Gramophone 1993

JS Bach: Mass in B minor - English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner

Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B minor
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Archiv 415 514-2

One of the most frequently mentioned "favorite" works of Bach, the B Minor Mass is not really a functional liturgical work, but an assemblage of movements written over a period of many years. Its grand scale is certainly awesome, but its musical and spiritual unity is more remarkable, considering its origin and the fact that it contains several different compositional styles - not to mention some of Bach's most profound and beautiful music. Performing this work and preserving a sense of its grand design while bringing out the considerable musical details is a challenge that most choirs, orchestras, and conductors are not up to. Almost by consensus, however, John Eliot Gardiner's version is the most successful - and it is indeed a phenomenal recording - at once sumptuous and penetrating, with gorgeous choral and solo singing, and spacious, vibrant sound.

David Vernier, Amazon Editorial Review

JS Bach: Die Familie Bach vor Johann Sebastian - MAK, Goebel

Johann Sebastian Bach
Die Familie Bach vor Johann Sebastian - Die Kantaten
Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel
Archiv 419 253-2

This is certainly amongst the most absorbingly interesting releases to have come my way: "Music Of The Bach Family Before Johann Sebastian", the very title beckons to the baroque-curious mind; and it will not be disappointed by the greater number of compositions in this collection. Four members of the Bach family are represented-Heinrich (1615-92), his two composer sons, Johann Christoph (1642-1703) and Johann Michael (1648-94), and Georg Christoph (1642-97), the son of Heinrich's brother Christoph. We cannot thank Johann Sebastian Bach enough for the music included here since it was he who initially collected it together. After his death this Altbachisches Archiv which included many more pieces besides, passed to his second son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. When he died, the Bach anthology was bought by a collector whence it passed, via Zelter, to the Berlin Singakademie. In 1935, Max Schneider published the vocal works of the collection- "in the nick of time", writes the author of an interesting accompanying essay, Andreas Holschneider, "for the Berliner Singakademie's entire collection of manuscripts was burnt during the Second World War".

This two-disc issue contains all the works for solo voices, choir and instrumental ensemble but not the choral motets which have generally been given more attention in the past. Heinrich Bach's vocal concerto, or cantata, Ich danke dir, Gott is the sole surviving vocal work by him. It's scored for two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass with five-part string ensemble and continuo. The stile concertato recalls Schutz, especially in the ripeno sections, but the instrumental writing and the important solo and ensemble vocal episodes have a distinctly forward-looking aspect. On the strength of this piece it's not surprising to learn that Heinrich's funeral oration described him as an experienced composer of chorales, motets, concertos (such as the present work), preludes and fugues.

The history of Georg Christoph Bach's little cantata, Siehe, wie fein und lieblich is delightful. In the year following his appointment as Cantor at Schweinfurt, his brothers Ambrosius and Johann Christoph (not the one represented in this anthology) paid him a visit to celebrate his birthday. Georg Christoph was so delighted by this gesture of family solidarity that he wrote his birthday cantata to the highly appropriate text of Psalm 133: "Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is brethren to dwell together in unity". Everything about the work conveys the harmonious spirit which existed among the three brothers. 'Three' plays a highly significant role throughout: three voices (two tenors and a bass), three bass viols and, admittedly a solo violin, an instrumental prelude containing three themes and so on. The music is full of interest with some dashing gestures and one cannot but feel sorrowful that this is the only piece by him to have survived.

Johann Michael Bach is represented by his five formally varied sacred concertos. All but one are scored for a five-strand string ensemble and prefaced by a short instrumental movement. The vocal requirements differ from cantata to cantata. Ach, bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ is scored for four-part choir and begins with a darkly-coloured sinfonia containing brilliant episodes for the upper strings. Some of the images of the text are colourfully illustrated with affective dynamic shading in passages such as "In these last sorrowful hours". The cantata, Auf, lasst uns den Herren loben is scored for an alto voice with strings and continuo. Its opening sinfonia with recitative-like solo-violin writing is particularly arresting though the simplicity of the strophic setting, with its little instrumental echoes is appealing, too. The other cantatas, Es ist ein grosser Gewinn and the strophic Ach, wie sehnlich wart' ich der Zeit are for soprano voices with strings, whilst the fifth one, Liebster Jesu, hor mein Flehen, is a Lenten dialogue for five solo voices. The contrast between instrumental virtuosity and the gentle directness of much of the vocal writing is an engaging feature of this music; it avoids predictability and constantly surprises us with its wide, sometimes unexpected terms of reference.

The remaining compositions in this collection have left a deep impression upon me. Johann Christoph, younger brother of Johann Michael, expresses himself in musical language which ranges from profound melancholy to fierce spiritual affirmation. Johann Sebastian greatly admired his work as did Carl Philipp Emanuel. Some of the pieces here, such as the wedding cantata, Meine Freundin, du bist schon and the hauntingly beautiful lament, Ach, dass ich Wassers g'nug hatte, were already familiar to me but his setting of the cantata for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, Es erhub sich ein Streit, though available through Karl Geiringer's anthology, "Music of the Bach Family", was, for me, a thrilling and unforgettable first performance. Johann Sebastian performed it, according to Philipp Emanuel, in Leipzig where everybody was astonished by its effect. It's lavishly scored for two five-part chorus, five soloists, four trumpets, drums, bassoon, strings and continuo. The piece offers the greatest contrast imaginable with the two poignant laments, Ach, dass ich Wassers g'nug hatte and Wie bist du denn, O Gott. The first, for alto voice with strings, contains a marked Purcellian flavour in its opening measures. The second, for bass with a similar string ensemble, is on a more ambitious scale, making considerable demands both upon singer and violinist. The cantata, Die Furcht des Herren, for a town council election, is scored for five soloists with four-part chorus and an orchestra of strings. Meine Freundin, du bist schon is an extended wedding cantata for four soloists, four-part choir, strings and continuo. The text is accompanied by an amusing and light-hearted commentary by Johann Ambrosius Bach, which is reproduced in full in the accompanying booklet.

The performances in the main are very strong, with outstanding contributions both from Reinhard Goebel as violin soloist and from Cologne Musica Antiqua. Anyone who has heard this group's recording of German chamber music before Bach (Archiv Produktion 2723 078, 10/81-nla) will readily understand my enthusiasm for its contribution to this altogether more ambitious project. Goebel's own violin playing seems to me expressive in almost every detail sometimes conveying passion, but more often the deep pathos contained in so much of the music. His account of the poignant little sinfonia of Johann Michael Bach's Auf, lasst uns den Herren loben is just one of many instances where he eloquently captures the spirit of the music. In the larger scale pieces such as Johann Christoph's Es erhub sich ein Streit, Goebel directs his 22-part ensemble with skill and vivid imagination. Few if any listeners will be disappointed either by the music or the thrilling performance.

The vocal contributions are mostly stylish and convincing. I have reservations, however, about the bass, Michael Schopper. In most of the pieces in which he sings he blends fairly well with the other soloists though he sounds somewhat more closely balanced than they do; but his important opening music in Johann Christoph's Meine Freundin, du bist schon is a disappointment. An element of theatre is certainly required here and throughout the cantata, but Schopper over-acts his part and is tempted, it would seem, to play to the gallery. He might just have got away with it but for the fact that his intonation is a little insecure and there is a decided tendency to sing under the note. Later on, he settles more comfortably into the piece. Perhaps, once again, however, it is Goebel himself who steals the show with some splendidly incisive and communicative violin playing. In the several choral movements which feature in the anthology the Rheinische Kantorei sound fresh and well disciplined.

To sum up, this is an issue of distinction and an important addition to our recorded catalogue of music. The level of artistic creativity in a single family is cause enough for wonder, but when it is complemented by performances of this calibre we can be doubly thankful. Excellent recorded sound and full texts in accordance with Archiv Produktion's usual high standard. Bravo!

Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone Magazine 1987

JS Bach: The Complete Orchestral Suites - Martin Pearlman

Johann Sebastian Bach
The Complete Orchestral Suites
Boston Baroque, Martin Pearlman
Telarc CD-80619

There is no dearth of recordings of the Bach Orchestral Suites, but this new one goes right to the top of the list of recommended performances. Pearlman and his Boston Baroque play on period instruments but there is never any stridency in the strings, none of the odd pressured quality that can creep into "historically informed" readings. The 3rd and 4th suites, the most heavily scored, are given truly rousing readings, with the trumpets and timpani making a joyful noise and the oboes and bassoon audible and very welcome in the mix---the recording is well-balanced. The first suite has prominent wind parts as well, and Pearlman weaves them in and out of the orchestral fiber effectively, as the music indicates. The tricky Suite No. 2 is often presented as a type of flute concerto, but Pearlman has the solo flute backed up by multiple strings in the grander passages and reduces them to solos when the flute has its own melodic line. And most importantly, he realizes that the movements of all the suites are dances, and so the music, in its own, French Baroque way, swings. The recording is as fine as the performances, which is to say, remarkable.

Robert Levine, Amazon Editorial Review

Welcome to All the Pleasures - The English Concert, Pinnock

Bach, Boyce, Haydn, Händel,
Mozart, Purcell, Scarlatti, Vivaldi
Welcome to All the Pleasures
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 437 175-2

I am thrilled that Archiv Produktion in Canada has assembled "Welcome To All The Pleasures", and happy that it includes so many personal favorites from my discography. This celebration of choral, keyboard and orchestral music on authentic instruments is a voyage filled with delicious musical pleasures and warm personal memories, for 1993 marks my fifteenth anniversary with Archiv Produktion, and the twentieth anniversary of my founding of The English Concert. My new assosiation with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra is providing every bit as adventurous and is filled with the pleasures of rich musical rewards. So, indeed, welcome to all the pleasures!

Trevor Pinnock

JS Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord and Strings BWV 1052-54

Johann Sebastian Bach
Concertos for Harpsichord and Strings BWV 1052, 1053, 1054
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 415 991-2

Such classic 80's recordings like this just don't go out of style for the classical music lover. Masterful compositions from a truly towering composer and performed with equisite period artistry make this still a highly desirable recording. The vibrant and enthusiastic moods Pinnock and the English Concert produce would probably make Bach quite proud. The sound quality is extremely clear, bright and bold. Compositions - 5 stars, Performance - 5 stars, Sound quality - 5 stars.

For those less into the period sound of the harpsichord, the recordings on piano by Muray Perhahia or Angela Hewitt are very desirable. Also fans of Pinnock should hear his recent and rather amazing recording of Bach's famous Partitas which most agree even eclipse his earlier recordings.

Alan Lekan, Amazon Customer

JS Bach: Das Wohltempierte Clavier 1 & 2 - Kenneth Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Das Wohltempierte Clavier 1 & 2
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 413 439-2

The preludes and fugues which comprise the 48 date from two periods in Bach's life. The first anthology of 24 was completed in 1722, shortly before Bach left Cöthen for Leipzig; the second followed 20 years later, in 1742, by which time he had completed 24 more preludes and fugues, this time without the title Well-tempered Clavier which he had given to the first. The upward semitone journey in which Bach set about exploring as many different keys as was then practicable is the same in both books. The idea was not without precedent, among earlier examples being J.C.F. Fischer's Ariadne musica, in which the composer seems to have had a similarly didactic purpose to that of Bach, though on a smaller scale.

This is the first complete 48 to have come my way for some while and I can say, at once, that it is a very satisfying one. Both the rival complete versions currently in the UK catalogue (Leonhardt on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/Conifer and Walcha on Archiv Produktion) are elderly and suffer, at least in comparison with this new one from a lack of warmth in the instruments themselves. Archiv Produktion have achieved splendid results here with their recorded sound; there is an ideal resonance which captures the radiant character of the instrument extremely well. Kenneth Gilbert's blend of scholarship and fine technique, together with a thoughtful, modest personality, give his performances a notably concentrated quality free from gimmickry and excessive imposition of personal whim. It is a quality which, perhaps, does not always serve him quite so well on the concert platform where an extra dimension is sought and where there is less opportunity of becoming properly acquainted with an artist's deepest feeling. Such is not the case with recordings and Gilbert succeeds triumphantly with his 48; one might almost say, in fact, that he is never happier than when the studio red light is on!

In the first book there are virtually no markings and so the performer carries heavy responsibility for phrasing and articulation. Gilbert reaches some convincing conclusions; take the third fugue (C sharp major) for example where he achieves a marvellous carefree atmosphere by the degree of staccato which he applies to the quavers. At the same time his fine rhythmic sense never allows him to lose the innate elegance of the piece. That quality in his playing also serves him well in the preceding C sharp Prelude and in the D minor Prelude of Book I. There, rhythmic vitality and clear articulation make for outstanding performances; the flattened Es of bar 17 of the D minor have a haunting poignancy in Gilbert's handling of the piece. Leonhardt, incidentally, uses a 'lute' stop for both these preludes. In general, he makes more use than Gilbert of this kind of differentiation of colour and strand; but, despite its virtues both from entertainment and instructional points of view, I prefer the consistency of Gilbert's tonal palette which yields nothing to the other in textural clarity. Leonhardt's 48, by the way, is recorded on an instrument pitched at A=440 whereas Gilbert's is at something approaching A =415.

In short, this recording represents a major achievement both for Kenneth Gilbert and for Archiv Produktion. The digitally-recorded sound is first class (the recording was made in Chartres Museum). Refined performances full of elegance, clarity and lyricism.

N. A., Gramophone Magazine