Customer Reviews

Re: Bach

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Selling classical music with sex has never been something I cared for. And St. John always had very questionable CD covers. Nevertheless, I always had to admit that when it came to the music itself, it sounded like she had real integrity. The playing was always first class, with lots of personality and quite unique. Now, she just shattered all this. This CD has no integrity and no music, lowering herself to the level of corny artists like Linda Brava or what have you. Would she soon be posing for Playboy as well? ... Thank god there are still violinists like Hilary Hahn and Sarah Chang around to save the classical grace.

The reviewer below seems to feel there is an elitist movement against those who put a beat to classical movement. Or, against those who arrange it in a pop or contemporary style. Whether true or not, I feel he totally misses the point here: This album has failed so miserably because those who love this sort of stuff (like I do) realize this album is a total drag. It feels like a mix of outdated styles that don't sit right together at all. It certainly fails to give a listener anything new, fresh or "bold". It also fails to lift the music to any acceptable standard of any style of music, be it pop, contemporary or not.

And as for the comparison to Vanessa-Mae:

1) She WAS bold, original, young, daring and fresh 2) She portrayed great youthful energy 4) She truly knows how to improvises on her instruments (while St. John does not) 5) She did not become famous because of her nude photos (while St. John did). 6) And finally, her albums came out 7-10 years earlier and yet still sound more up-to-date than this mess of an album.

When I heard the first tunes of the CD, I thought there must have been a mistake and they put the wrong CD in the wrong cover... Then I checked: Yes, I its still reads "Bach" on the CD itself... It was anwakening, if not necessarily rude as a fellow reviewer has sugessted, but certainly a very suprising one.
Well, even if you like crossovers, this one is way over the top. I would not have recognized a single track as being from JSB. Look at other, more laudable crossover-experiments. Maybe the Kronos-quarttet, or recently Pierre Laurant Aimard in his Ligeti-Pygmae music approach. Risk taking, and interesting.

This one here is just lush entertainment, a far too easy listening. No risk taking at all. It's interesting, yes sad, what otherwise serious classical music artists will do for money nowadays...

Poor Lara! For years, she tried everything to get noticed. First it was the nude cover of her first album, then the tough girl image of the second, afterwards the sexy "bad girl" cover of the third. Still, some people thought she was also a worthwhile violinist and some even liked her fresh attitude.

In this last cd, however, she exposes not her body, for a change, but her lack of musical integrity or depth. It's no wonder this cd is already widely considered a big flop. There's little good to say about it.

Although some ignorant, or self-proclaimed "progressive thinkers" get lured by it's silly effects, I highly advise to skip this one. Ever since 'Switch on Bach' was made, over 30 years ago, countless albums with variations on the subject of Bach were produced. We've already heard it all. There's nothing new here.

There are so many better albums out there that will "expand your horizons" without insulting your intelligence or your sound musical taste.

I wanted to disagree with the previous reviewer, as I used to admire this artist. But no longer. Unfortunately, after listening to this CD, I could not agree more. This is a perfect example of someone selling their soul, probably for the hopes of financial success. Quite sad, actually. I have heard bad new-age pop before, but why did she have to do it to Bach? There is very little Bach in it, but what is recognizable as Bach is pretty repulsive. What baffles me most, is why there is so little violin in it? That is just plain stupid!

I don't know what all the fuss is all about. According to Amazon, this album pretty much does not sell at all. It is ranked no. 112,302 in music, and yet so many people feel the need to express their strong `for' or `against' it. Why so? The album is just as boring, in my opinion. So what if it is called Bach? Simply using snippets of Bach's melodies does not make it Bach and does not make the album classical. The album is pleasant to the ear, nevertheless, and feature a very simple violin line on top of various types of backgrounds. My favorite track is Largo. My least favorite track is The Sicilian, as it sounds pretty dated. BADinerie sounds dated as well, I guess, but mostly, this album is okay for one listen.

After repeated listenings (really I tried) and reading other reviews, I must agree that this is a very disappointing work from the otherwise mega-talented Lara St John. I'm not quite sure who is more to blame: Sony for making her an offer she couldn't refuse, or Lara for selling out? In either event, this is very mundane new-age easy-listening music for simpletons. Certainly nothing offensive, it actually makes for nice background music, but ventures nowhere near her capablities which were so expertly exposed in her previous releases.
I had the opportunity of seeing Lara perform last month at the Palace of Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Having already obtained this CD, I wasn't quite sure what to expect...Lara with band performing these new works as a media kick-off for Sony? Or the Lara I knew best performing what she does best? Fortunately, the latter was the case. An incredible solo Bach performance, as well as piano accompaniment featuring Prokofiev. These performances literally blew me away...the violin became a living entity, the emotion flowing from Lara through her instrument.
One can only hope that this latest effort (or lack of) was a fluke, her sellout, yet I don't see this CD succeeding at all. If both Sony and Lara come to their senses, there's still a chance that we can enjoy some truly inspired music in the future.

I think this CD suffers from an identity crisis. I expected to hear some fantastic violin extravaganza. But no. Hardly anything more than a melody here and there. I expected to hear some well-known Bach favorites. No, wrong again. Aside from the first or second track on the album, I did not recognize anything. How about a scandalous, sexy cover, something Lara St. John is most "noted" for? No, not at all; She looks cute on the cover, but that's it. Okay, what about something along the lines of introducing Bach's genius to first time listeners? No, Bach can barely be recognized. Yet, throughout the whole CD, one hears this very talented Indian tabla virtuoso named Trilok. And this guy, Trilok, can drum along anything and give it an Indian slant. Anything from music that sounds like the soundtrack to Miami Vice, to a solo violin movement, he is quite impressive. He saves the album from total boredom.

Why does Lara participates or endorses such an album? And what is the purpose or the message of the album? Is she is an Indian tabla fan? Does she think Bach needs the use of electronic drumbeats, "funky" bass guitar or weird aural enhancements to communicate his music's great beauty to the common man? No. I suspect the answer to this question lies only with Sony's bigwigs and with today's general mentality of covetousness and greed.

I'm also willing to bet St. John never even listens to this kind of commercial junk in her spare time.

As for J.S. Bach, this CD is everything Bach isn't. He is not slick, not commercial, not superficial and not repetitious. He is nothing but pure greatness. And for a classical artist like her who should know better, what she did to him in this album is shameful and very low. Very low, indeed.

Of course, people vary in their values, views, psychologies, etc. Thus, we have the Normal Distribution (bell-shaped curve). At one end of the classical listening public are the purists. These folks will not like this album. It takes great liberties with Bach. Worse, the title seems to allude to its being "real" classical music. I too have deep misgivings about the title. On the other side of the spectrum are the "early adopter" types who like innovation, creativity, etc. I do. However, when you brainstorm, you generate lots of ideas--but afterwards you eliminate the losers and evaluate the survivors. Apparently, that step was overlooked for this album. I respect their attempt at innovation. But, it just didn't work for me. Indeed, this is one of the CDs I enjoyed the least of all I've heard. The mixture of Bach & other themes was discordant--not integrated. Some of the playing was okay to good, some was not. It sounded synthetic in more than one way. If it had been a "live" recording of an improvisation session, one might justify it, but it wasn't. I refuse, however, to attribute motivations to others--so I don't know why they released this CD--I doubt other reviewers do either. Nevertheless, some will love this recording. After all, harmony is in the ear of the listener.

This violinist had seen better days... Some of her previous albums were worth listening. She fooled me to believe she is serious about good music, and about Bach. This album, however, is a rude awakening. Really corny, new age fluff, with simple violin melodies any bad violinist could play. I guess she sold her soul for good cash...