Customer Reviews

Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jordi Savall's rather unique recording of this Bach masterpiece uses a consort of viols...treble, alto (!), tenor, and bass viols and also a consort of winds...cornetto, oboe da caccia, tenor trombone, and bassoon. Some pieces are recorded with strings alone, others with winds alone, and some with both of them.

Throughout, though, there is an amazing clarity and quality of tone and the counterpoint is brought out beautifully. The performers do not obscure the lines by using excessive vibrato or too many players on a part; yet, the playing is still expressive and beautiful. The smaller viols sound wonderful on the high notes, and the lower viols have a resonant yet clear tone that you don't find from a modern violin-based string quartet.

I agree with our other reviewer here...this must be the best recording of the Art of Fugue money can buy at this point, and that's saying something, because I have heard several other versions by top performers...yet Jordi Savall's unique but insightful rendition wins the five stars!

Oh, and do yourself a favor...if you want to buy this item along with the musical offering, don't buy them together as suggested by Amazon. It's cheaper to buy them in the boxed set called "Bach's Testament" which Amazon also sells. :) I would recommend buying that too, by the way, as the recording of the musical offering is also great.

Best "Art of Fugue" I've heard. The small orchestra befits the music. I have versions for organ, piano, string quartet, viol consort, and I feel as if Savall and his group give the most satisfying performance overall. A very spiritual recording of Bach's last great masterpiece.

This double CD is fantastic! Yes, it is appealing very much to my fantasy, my imagination. It makes me think of Bach as some folk music composer, partly because of the weird colours of the 'authentic' instrumentation, of course. But in fact, the - modern! - Juillard string quartet made me think of folk music, too, so there is probably something in the theme that Bach chose that hints to such an aspect of folk music, which makes me think of some ancient legend told. The very rich colours and the warm, beautiful playing make me consider this one of the best Art of the Fugue, certainly the most fantasy-appealing.
Munchinger has a very emotional Art of the Fugue, with modern orchestra, unmissable. Quite elegant, not so emotional, rather laid back, is Ristenpart's performance, for orchestra too.

The Art of Fugue is not the easiest thing to listen to, but this recording under Jordi Savall's direction does a lot that helps guide the listener along I think. First of all, the engineering is impeccable, so no worries there-- with wonderful stereo separation which is really needed for something so strictly polyphonic as this (if there was any music made for headphones, this just might be it!).

Savall's arrangement for viols and wind instruments helps immensely as well. The viols work better than modern strings I think for the lack of vibrato (which muddies up the dense sound). The winds help add colour to the overall sound. Some of the fugues and canons are played by only winds or only viols, and sometimes by both together. This gives the fugues and canons a bit more variety from one to the next.

Another aspect I really like in Savall's recording is the slower tempos used. I don't dislike the Emerson Quartet's recording, but its not a personal top pick for me-- not only are the tempos are much faster (Emerson's recording fits it all on one CD) but it has a bit more of a dramatic character. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but its an added quality to the music that I sometimes feel is a distraction from "just the notes" and it gets a bit too dense for me to follow well.

Savall's recording has more space to let each of the lines breathe, making it easier to hear the individual lines. This is something it has in common with Munchinger's lush, modern, somewhat romantic recording for string orchestra, except Savall's certainly sounds much more baroque.

Something I have noticed in the past few years listening more closely to Bach is how organic his music is, recognising strands of "musical DNA" reproducing and evolving from one instrument to the next. In Savall's recording, this becomes much more apparent to me and its delightful hearing these vines of sound. Listening to dense counterpoint is not easy for me, but this recording certainly helps!

Something peculiar to this recording is that it does not end with the traditional "When in the hour of utmost need" chorale-- rather, the disc ends quite literally with the last few notes of Bach trailing off into silence, which was a bit of a shock my first time listening.

One more important thing: Whereas the Emerson Quartet infuses a sort of vigorous drama into The Art of Fugue, Savall's approach is far more limpid. This could potentially turn some listeners off, perhaps with a too hasty accusation of "sameness" from one fugue to the next. I think where Savall's recording lacks in this area, it more than makes up for it in terms of clarity of the line and how they all are bound together in an organic whole.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase and I know it will bear many indefinite worthwhile listens.

The most amazing tone, performance and recording of this piece I have ever heard. Should be sent into outer space; for any life form that hears it will be transported to nirvana. JS (I call him JS) is smiling down from his throne in the clouds.

Darn SACDs. I'd like to get this recording but it won't play on my computer and I hardly ever use the CD player anymore. Furthermore I have no convenient way to get the SACD to a CD so I can listen to it on my computer.

Bah.