Bach: Complete Lute Works arr. 10-string guitar [IMPORT] [BOX SET]

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Stephan Schmidt (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Stephan Schmidt
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (July 11, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Valois
• ASIN: B00004TVFG
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #373,357 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Prelude

2. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Loure

3. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Gavotte en rondeau

4. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Menuet I / Menuet II

5. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Bourree

6. Partita for lute in E major, BWV 1006a (BC L171): Gigue

7. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Preludio

8. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Fuga

9. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Sarabande

10. Partita for lute in C minor, BWV 997 (BC L170): Gigue

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Prelude

2. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Allemande

3. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Courante

4. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Sarabande

5. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Gavottes 1 & 2

6. Suite for lute in G minor, BWV 995: Gigue

7. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Passagio... Presto

8. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Allemande

9. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Courante

10. Suite for lute in E minor, BWV 996 (BC L166): Sarabande

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Bach interpretation, May 16, 2002

By A Customer

This is the best recording of the Lute Suites hands down. Stephan Schmidt play a ten string instrument with tremendous sound that simply must be heard to be believed. They are played in the original key. He plays these pieces with amazing passion and feeling yet still preserves the beautiful structure and clarity of these pieces. Check out the marvelous preludes to BWV 995 and BWV 1006. The vitality of the pieces is stunning; they really spring to life. No one has recorded these better.

I have listened to nearly all of the Lute Suite recordings by various artists: John Williams is clean, but a little too dry/stale; Segovia is simply way off mark with inarticulate and romantic phrasing(AVOID); Sharon Isbin has some good stuff but the way she plays the 1006 prelude is lacking in joy and passion; Paul Galbraith has awesome technique that yields some great interpretations but the sound engineering is less than his violin sonatas/partitas disc--(nonetheless EXCELLENT though). Eduardo Fernandez also has some good stuff but his guitar (Paul Fischer?) is so dry that it is irritating. Kevin Gallagher has recorded the best Prelude, Fugue, & Allegro interpretation (BWV998) but has not recorded the other Suites, unfortunately.

This is by far the best recording of these pieces. I only wish I knew who made his guitar. Everything on this recording sounds so beautiful. Stephan Schmidt is an artist of the highest caliber. Very impressive indeed.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A step back into the reality of yesteryear, April 12, 2003

By	Lorelle VanFossen (Tel Aviv, Israel) - See all my reviews

The guitar as we know it today featured 10 strings, not the 6 or 12 we are accustomed to. It was an evolving instrument ranging from a few strings to many, and in Bach's time, the standard was 10. Since then, artists have rewritten and arranged the Lute Suite to accomodate their version of the guitar, with its non-ten strings. While the results were delightful and lovely in their own way, the public has been prevented from hearing these wonderful works in their own "language".

Stephan Schmidt took it upon himself to study and learn how to produce these historical works in their original form, with the 10 string guitar, and the results are - to use an overworked phrase - AWESOME. I feel like I'm sitting in an ancient palace or theatre, the smell of candle wax and dust in the air and the feel of marble or wood planks beneath my feet. The rustle of women's long gowns and the slight clearing of men's throats seems might even be heard in the distant background. The music is haunting and transforming.

For anyone who is a history buff, classical or guitar music lover, or just someone who wants to sit back and relax for the several hours of these two discs....buy this set now. You will not be sorry. Living in a time when people have the ability to create clones, which might lead to restoring dinosaurs and other extinct creatures into the world through science, Mr. Schmidt has left science behind and recreated a lost world by going back through history the old fashioned way. Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for restoring the history to us.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Bach on guitar, April 28, 2004

By	Mr. R. Van Schelven "Ries" (Leidschendam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This is an outstanding performance. Technically perfect and so full of feeling. This is the best Lute Works interpretation on guitar I ever heard and I have a lot of them, like Segovia, Williams, Sollscher etc.