Customer Reviews

Transcendental Bach

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I've had this recording for a few years now. I come back to it often because there is something underlying each note Thomas Labé which is hard to describe.

Perhaps the title of the album is the word I am looking for: Transcendental.

We are given a wonderful selection of Bach as seen through the eyes of Rachmaninoff, Busoni and the unfairly infamous Godowsky.

String Solo pieces for Violin or Cello by JS BACH are transformed into new and delightful pieces of music. They are arranged very intelligently, too.

Each builds on the other until we reach the pinnacle which is the Bach Chaconne arranged by Ferrucio Busoni.

Played by Mr. Labé, they are transformed into new words of art...at times you can even hear the piano sing; and when it needs to be, the ferocity is virtuosic.

The album ends with a most delightful surprise which is the Aria from the Bach A minor Violin Sonata #2.

I couldn't recommend a recording more. This is a recording for those of us who thought we had heard it all before.

Thank you, Mr. Labé.

The versatility of Bach's Baroque solo violin and cello works are wonderfully demonstrated here in their post-Romantic adaptations to piano by Rachmaninoff, Busoni, and Gounod. I was not particularly familiar with Labe as a pianist until I bought this album and I'm glad I got it. Labe glides smoothly across the keyboard for the Romantic mood of the piece while retaining the sharp and somewhat mechanical techniques appropriate for the Baroque elements. Labe's rendition for these adaptations are in my opinion as warm and professional as Bach transcriptions by Gould or Rosen. The actual recording quality is truly flawless and exemplary.