Customer Reviews

Bach: The Four Orchestral Suites

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

 

 

There's a set of samples above. Listen to the last track of the second disk, the filler: sinfonia to Cantata 29. You might just buy this set based on that sample--one of the most exciting Bach performances I've ever heard and unlike any performance of that piece I've ever encountered.

Tough to pick a good set of Orchestral Suites but this set rides near the top. Goodman is consistently decent with nearly anything he does. A bit old-schoolish at times--meaning he doesn't tend to force the music too often--and that's fine. Whenever I need a solid centrist (but hardly dull--check out his Beethoven overtures disc on Nimbus) performance he and his people fit the bill.

I like just about everything Hyperion releases and I've never heard these by now over recorded suites performed with so much power and exuberance. Funny - the review below says that this album drags - far from it in my book! Other renderings sound stiff, boring and definately drag out. There's a genius to Goodman's cunducting (from the viola) that brings these pieces to life and "lubricates" (if I may use a sexual analogy...) an otherwise stuffy Bach!

Drag. Yes I feel as though this recording tends to "drag" on a bit and that is my only complaint. The sound quality is what I've come to expect from Hyperion Records, rich and lively. I gave this group's recording of the Brandenburg Concertos the highest marks and would do the same for this but for the tempi and repeats. It's a little too long and heavy for me on some tracks. I guess I am hard to please but this is my review. Still, this recording is easily a 4-star outing. Pick it up if you don't have another version. Pick it up if you do just because of the price.