The contents are arranged by BWV (Bach catalogue) numbers, which places the cantatas and major choral works first, before moving onto keyboard (organ and harpsichord/piano) and chamber, then the orchestral (concerto) works before drawing to a close with studies and canons in other words, those supreme masterworks The Musical Offering (Musica Antiqua Koln under Reinhard Goebel) and The Art of Fugue (Pierre-Laurent Aimard). No area of Bachs output is ignored. There are even Lute Suites and Sacred Songs from the Schemelli Songbook.Plus a Decca / L Oiseau-lyre classic: The Peasant and Coffee Cantatas sung by Emma Kirkby and David Thomas under Christopher Hogwood. Hard to explain, but there are no recordings of these works available on the DG or Archiv labels (rights to the Richter recordings of the works reverted to VEB when the Wall came down)!On the DG side, look out for Abbados fleet-footed Brandenburgs (with Giuliano Carmignola as first violin), Pogorelichs English Suites (his A minor Prelude is unsurpassed, his sarabandes are something else), Kathleen Battles perfect selection of arias with obbligato violin (Itzhak Perlman! in the high-price catalogue for nearly 30 years) and Mischa Maiskys Gamba Sonatas (played on Cello), with Martha Argerich a scintillating partner (she also contributes a memorable piano recital).Archiv remains to the fore with Gardiners St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio and Paul McCreeshs St. Matthew Passion; Trevor Pinnock is prominent on keyboard with the Harpsichord Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, while Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua stand out in The Musical Offering and the Violin Sonatas.Organ works are split between Helmut Walcha, Karl Richter and Simon Preston three great organists representing both labelsClassics like the Pierre Fournier Cello Suites (issued both on Archiv and Deutsche Grammophon in their time) and Nathan Milsteins Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin also underline the labels great Bach tradition.The CD booklet includes a newly-commissioned from Bach expert Dorothea Schroeder, full tracklisting and photographs of the artists.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
5 days ago
