Includes FREE MP3
version
of this album.
or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Sell Us Your Item
For up to a $0.85 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Bach: A Strange Beauty

Simone Dinnerstein , Johann Sebastian Bach Audio CD
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Price: $9.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
 : Includes FREE MP3 version of this album.
   Provided by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. Terms and Conditions. Does not apply to gift orders.
Only 12 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 22? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Complete your purchase to save the MP3 version to Cloud Player.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
MP3 Music, 15 Songs, 1 Digital Booklet, 2011 $9.99  
Audio CD, 2011 $9.99  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Choral "Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ", BWV 639 3:40$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  2. Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: I. (Allegro) 3:17$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  3. Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Largo 2:56$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto 2:48$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  5. Choral "Nun freut euch ihr lieben Christen", BWV 734 2:26$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  6. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: I. Prélude 2:53$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  7. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: II. Allemande 5:02$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  8. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: III. Courante 1:59$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  9. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: IV. Sarabande 4:13$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen10. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: V. Gavotte I/II 2:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen11. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: VI. Gigue 2:20$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen12. Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro 8:00$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen13. Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: II. Adagio 7:16$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen14. Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: III. Allegro 7:13$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen15. Choral "Jesu, joy of man's desiring", BWV 147 3:53$0.99  Buy MP3 


Amazon's Simone Dinnerstein Store

Music

Image of album by Simone Dinnerstein

Photos

Image of Simone Dinnerstein

Videos

Night EPK

Biography

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has been called "a throwback to such high priestesses of music as Wanda Landowska and Myra Hess," by Slate magazine, and praised by TIME for her "arresting freshness and subtlety." The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which ... Read more in Amazon's Simone Dinnerstein Store

Visit Amazon's Simone Dinnerstein Store
for 8 albums, 13 photos, 3 videos, discussions, and more.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Buy a CD or a vinyl record, get a $1 Amazon MP3 Credit. Limit one promotional credit per customer. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Includes FREE MP3 version of this album Here's how (restrictions apply)

Frequently Bought Together

Bach: A Strange Beauty + Something Almost Being Said: Music of Bach and Schubert + Bach: Goldberg Variations
Price for all three: $33.97

Buy the selected items together


Product Details

  • Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Audio CD (January 18, 2011)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: SONY CLASSICS
  • ASIN: B004DURSDK
  • In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,276 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Simone Dinnerstein's first recording for Sony Classical, BACH: A STRANGE BEAUTY, has the critically-acclaimed pianist returning to Bach,this time combining three transcriptions of his Chorale Preludes, with one of his English Suites and two of his Keyboard Concerti, again revealing her intense and expressive playing style, as well as her individual approach to Bach's music.

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
(24)
3.9 out of 5 stars
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Hearing Simone Dinnerstein playing Bach is an experience that's almost quite unlike any other I have heard, either live, or in recent recordings. While many have tended to emphasize the more formal, more analytical, aspects of Bach's scores, here Dinnerstein succeeds most admirably in exploring Bach's expressive side, or rather, to quote the album title, "Bach: A Strange Beauty", which she does in compelling performances ranging from transcriptions of organ chorales (e. g. Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639, arr. Busoni, the album's opening track) to solo keyboard works (e. g. English Suite in G Minor BWV 808), and finally, with the two keyboard concerti (Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor BWV 808; Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor BWV 1052) played with ample expressiveness from her and the period instrument practice-informed Kammerorchester Staatskapelle Berlin. The most cantabile Bach scores are those of the organ chorale transcriptions, especially the BWV 639.

If there is one unifying theme to Dinnerstein's expressive playing, it is the consistent joie de vivre one feels for each of the Bach pieces, emphasizing the strong emotional as well as analytical aspects of Bach's scores. Those who greatly enjoyed her critically and commercially acclaimed "Goldberg Variations" recording will find much to admire here from a fine young pianist who is the daughter and niece of two of our finest American painters (She does devote ample time in discussing her personal artistic connections to her father's work in the extensive liner notes, as well as explaining why she isn't interested in adhering to a period performance practice style. On a personal note, I am well aware that her uncle is a great painter in his own right, having been fortunate to attend high school with one of her uncle's children, and through that relative, becoming familiar with some of his father's work.). But even if you haven't heard Dinnerstein's Bach before, then this great recording should convince you that she is among our most exciting, and most compelling, interpreters of Bach. This is definitely a most auspicious debut from Simone Dinnerstein on her new label Sony, and one that promises substantially more compelling performances from one of our most unique, most distinctive, classical pianists.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
31 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Waiting For! January 18, 2011
Format:Audio CD
Simone Dinnerstein's newest recording has been circulating among the cognoscenti for a while now and finally it has been released. It is a complete pleasure. Aptly titled BACH: A STRANGE BEAUTY, the Cd includes Keyboard Concerti Nos. 1 BWV 1052 and No. 5 BWV 1056 which she performs with the Kammerorchester Staatskapelle Berlin, the English Suite No 3 BWV 808, and three choral transcriptions for keyboard alone. Not to be outdone with the display of technical facility she offered in her Goldberg Variations recording, here Dinnerstein is drawn more to the elegant and gently Bach. Her touch is rich and full as is well suited to these works. There are high points, such as the Largo movement from the Concerto No. 5 - as richly romantic as Bach can be played (!), and the choral transcriptions are refreshingly elegant. The entire recoding is very well produced and there is not a disappointing aspect of this project by an artist who commands our respect. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, January 11
Was this review helpful to you?
24 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A big fan of the art of Simone Dinnerstein I have been waiting impatiently for a new issue to follow her superlative Berlin recital. Yet, "Oh, oh" - I thought when I saw the front cover: "A Strange Beauty - written in, what appears to be, chocolate; not an auspicious way to describe works by Bach, the Einstein of classical music. Somebody has been got at by the marketing mafia - "Simone Dinnerstein plays Bach" is no longer good enough, curiosity must now be lured by an ambiguous, quasi-nonsensical heading. Sic transit gloria mundi!" So it was with a mixture of anticipation and dread that I put this disc in my player and pushed the button.

Fortunately my fear was thoroughly put to shame. Luckily Simone is still Simone - and Bach is still Bach, and the peculiar title of the album probably(?) allures to the fact that the mixture of works on this disc is a bit of a "męlée étrange": two keyboard concertos with an interposed English suite, all devided by piano transcriptions of two organ chorals and a cantata part. Truly a menu of contrasts; one could imagine that heartburn was soon to follow, and I am still not sure it is a juxtaposition I would recommend, if my advice was sought. Still, it is certainly novel - if not exactly true to form.

Moving on to what a review should be all about - the performance and the artistic impression - Simone Dinnerstein's Bach once again proves a treat for sore ears. The opening number "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" is a dark and ominous piece that unavoidably leaves one poised for serious business, and the three main courses - each in its own way - follow the example. In the concertos there is always an atmosphere of lightheartedness, but at regular intervals Dinnerstein seems to almost pause and say: "Is this really supposed to funny?" Personally, I think the answer is: probably not overly much - and what I hear I certainly like! For Mercurial lightness of touch Dinnerstein will never be a new Perahia (but then again, why should she; we already got one of those), and she lends the concertos - and the suite (in G minor - also not the brightest key on the instrument) as well - a gravitas that is most wellcome. The slightly sinister Sarabande becomes a meditation on loss (my personal reading, of course), and even the presto finish of "Nun freut euch ihr lieben Christen" is closer in atmosphere to breathless panic at closing time than fleetfooted merriment. The solemn "Jesu, bleibet meine Freude" - always a benediction, and since Lipatti also a valediction - becomes a deeply moving exeunt, played with a transfigured clarity I thought went out of style and died decades ago. Expect a two hanky experience.

All in all - Dinnerstein is back with a vengeance. Buy this album and hear Bach as I doubt Bach ever did - but may well (would, I'm sure) have tipped his hat to.

One final caveat: the recorded sound is a tad fuzzy and murderously heavy on the bass. If you do not possess stereo equipment with regulation for treble and bass - the forecast for the day is fog and thunder. SONY - please, read this and weep!
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Touch
Dinnerstein reminds the listener of pianists of the past -- romantic and full of feeling, brilliantly technical but most interested in being true to the intent of the music.
Published 9 days ago by Pistolino
5.0 out of 5 stars Bach at its Best
Simone Dinnerstein is gifted and inspiring in her playing of Bach. Great CD. Buy it, let the music speak to you.
Published 3 months ago by Ronald D. Sanfield
1.0 out of 5 stars Very pretty
In the bad old days, we used to call this kind of playing "ladylike." Now, both genders indulge in this kind of dreamy, soft-focused, rhythmically flabby playing. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lawrence Katz
1.0 out of 5 stars horrible joy of desiring
Her interpretation of this song is boring. Uninspiring. Dull. I would urge everyone not to buy this CD or MP3 album. She can't play.
Published 12 months ago by Catherine
3.0 out of 5 stars Bach a little too romantic
Bach: A Strange Beauty [+digital booklet] - What an unusual title... To many Bach is certainly a musical master at composition, style, counterpoint and complex polphony. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Howard B. Haimes
5.0 out of 5 stars unbelievable
Unbelievablely beautiful, a joy to listen to. She has an amazing touch and technique--and I have ordered her two other releases, Goldberg Variations and Bach and Schubert.
Published 15 months ago by jhdflyer
1.0 out of 5 stars sorry..... not Glen Gould..... and quite honestly not even close.
My husband bought this cd....... bless his heart. I did not listen to one iota of it being a staunch
Glen Gould fan. That being said..... Read more
Published 19 months ago by L. Kennedy
5.0 out of 5 stars Romantic Bach
Simone Dinnerstein in her album "A Strange Beauty" has done what Bach begs for, and something I have never found in any recording of his music,the way I find it here. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Paul Vereshack
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
A delightful CD! Light and lilting, and deep and rich in perfect measure. Any one who likes Baroque or Bach should get this CD because it will not disappoint.
Published on May 20, 2011 by Bad Wolf
2.0 out of 5 stars Strange it is indeed, but some thing which has little to do with Bach.
Bach music is open to different interpretations - if you are a 'skilled' interpretor.
Ms. Dinnerstein's Bach is like a peacock, a huge peacock, and one that keeps on turning... Read more
Published on May 18, 2011 by A. F. S. Mui
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Look for Similar Items by Category