Customer Reviews

Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6, Orch Suites, Triple Concerto

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

 

 

This is priceless music-making. One can really feel that Richter is performing and conducting from his own heart and love for Bach, and all the while the orchestra is inspired to sing and to dance with him. The horns are laughing, the violins singing, and the listener is invited to experience flashes of happiness and joy with the chattering harpsichord.

When celestial music meets the summit of man's creative and loving spark, we lucky amateurs are left with this kind of immortal recording: glorious!

Karl Richter represents the Kapellmeister tradition at its best. Yes, it does have a best! That tradition's performance practice has little in common with today's period ensembles, and for that reason the musicologically inclined will find little to enjoy in this set. Others will delight in Richter's invigorating, superbly played Brandenburgs (with outstanding soloists, including Richter himself on the harpsichord). The Suites are less satisfying, in part because Richter's well-upholstered textures and inclination toward rhythmic rigidity are more damaging in these dance-inspired works. The "Triple Concerto" could also use a lighter touch, though one appreciates Richter's intense involvement with the score (he takes it more seriously than many conductors). Overall, I enjoyed this set immensely, but I'm of a generation that had to "relearn" how to listen to Baroque music in light of contemporary notions of period performance practice. Younger listeners with an open mind should hear this, however, just to get a sense of how Bach was performed over a generation ago.

There is a certain sort of splendour, grandeur and joyous energy to these recordings that you just don't find in modern ones (it simply makes you happy). However the sound is not as good as in newer recordings - these recordings are from the sixties. If you want modern, period instrument interpretations with clean sound and some of the same qualities, I would recommend Jordi Savall's recording of the Brandenburg Concertos (on Astrée/Naive) and Ton Koopman's recording of the Orchestral Suites (on Erato/Warner Classics).

22 Oct 2009

Since I wrote the review above I have been listening a lot to Jordi Savall's recording of the Orchestral Suites (on Astree/Naive). And by now I must say it is my favourite. Savall presents these great works with grand majestic solemnity. Besides his interpretation of the famous Air from the Third Suite is the most beautiful version I have ever heard. So my recommendation is Savall in both the Brandenburg Concertos and the Orchestral Suites.

I guess that this is one of those recordings when the generational gap does matter. I am 32 years old and I grew up in the early 80's listening

to period instruments performances of these works. I guess if had been much older today then my views of this recordings would have been different. My mother today thinks that this is one of the best recordings,

ever of the music of Bach, and indeed it must of been back in the early 60's, but recent researches, and more "historically informed" performances put this recording way back near the end of the line. Just think when listening to this recording that it used to be the standard

at a certain time in history, and that we can still draw a lot of

good information on how music was performed in the past, before early

instruments formed their own bands...

These CDs are left-overs from the 1960s when Bach was played by groups of chamber orchestra size on modern instruments. They were thought to be good interpretations at the time, but the sound is muddy, and the music dirge like, even though it is not much slower than a recent recording. Do not buy them, but listen to them if you can and give thanks to the period instrument movement of the early 80s. There must be 50 recent recordings of these masterpieces that are far superior and far cheaper.

p.s. It would seem from the number of readers who did not like this review, and from comments received, that I have come across as a rabid modern instrument hater. This is not the case, I am more than happy to admit that I enjoy some of the more recent of the modern instrument performances of Bach that have been influenced by the period instrument movement. For example the Naxos series of Bach's complete orchestral works played by The Cologne Chamber Orchestra on modern instruments is very good, their Brandenburgs, particularly nos 3 to 6 are excellent interpretations. They are very modestly priced, too. And I admit to much prefering piano interpretations of Bach's solo keyboard works.