Customer Reviews

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos No. 5 & 6/Orchestral Suite No. 1; Neville Marriner; Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

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I am not a musician nor can I identify Bach's Brandenburg Concerto number one from number five. However, I am an avid listener and do enjoy classical music. I know how good the Academy of St Martin in the Fields is and what a great conductor Sir Neville Marriner is. Most of all, I can identify a real bargain when I see one and this CD qualifies as a great bargain.

Bach's concertos are relaxing and very enjoyable. The Academy performs under the sure hand of Sir Marriner at the highest level. Each CD is just over an hour, the sound is clear and as Gramophone says "these performances are easy to enjoy".

This review refers to both the CD for concertos Nos. 1-4 and the CD for concertos Nos. 5 & & with Orchestral Suite No. 1.

I think with the Brandenbergs, the deciding factor on which set to buy is whether you prefer modern instruments or period instruments. There are probably more great period instrument recordings (Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert is my personal favorite) to choose from than modern instrument recordings, but I think this is the best available modern instrument recording. You pretty much cannot go wrong with anything by Marriner and the ASMF, but this is truly one of their better recordings and has been for a number of years. There may be others out there just as good, but I doubt if you will find any better.

I had forgotten how delightful it is to hear these pieces in their entirety! Every now and then I'd hear excerpts on the radio, etc., but not the whole work. These are marvelous examples of the best J.S. Bach had to offer in a wonderful set of recordings by Sir Neville Mariner and the band.

This is a fine reading of the lesser-appreciated Brandenburgs. While the 3rd is the "greatest hit" of the six, I think these last two are also beautiful in their own way.
Marriner sure has the Touch, and despite this performance being on modern and not period instruments, I prefer it to some of the more "faithful" BCs I've heard, mainly due to the heartfelt perfection of the playing. Bach was all about perfection, on many levels, and these guys bring home how incredibly layered and harmonically rich these pieces are.
Hard to pass up for five bucks.

Marvelows recording by Neville Marriner of these Bach's masterpieces. I was pleassed to hear this record