Johann Sebastian Bach

Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn

It is not surprising that Lipatti achieved cult status in the years following his death at the age of 33. He was an extremely sensitive musician and a man whose approach to the piano was one of utter fastidiousness, always striving for perfection in every aspect of his interpretation and performance. Throughout this Besançon recital there is a clarity of sound, evenness of attack and scrupulous attention to gradation of dynamics, characteristic hallmarks of Lipatti’s playing. The fourteen Chopin Waltzes are played in the order that Lipatti chose for performance but, according to his wife, he was too physically weak to play the last Waltz in A flat, Op. 34 No. 1, so it is included here from his commercial recording of a few months before.

The writer on this piece in 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die rightly identifies the ceaselessly contemporary quality of the opening chorus to Bach’s Passion setting from 1724, ‘cross-cutting between stabbing pleas for mercy and relentless counterpoint like a CNN rolling news story on the world’s dispossessed’. This quality is rarely so apparent in recordings as it is in Peter Schreier’s set from 1987. Under Schreier, the brusquely immediate economy of utterance peculiar to the St John has never come into so sharply focused a contrast with the ruminately contemplative St Matthew.

Having sung and recorded Evangelists for conductors as diverse as Karl Richter and Herbert von Karajan, Schreier (an alumnus of the Leipzig Thomanenchor in Bach’s charge two centuries earlier) decided to go it alone. In concert this presented (Schreier retired almost a decade ago now) a unique, astonishing sight: choir and soloists behind him, instrumentalists in front, there he stood, facing the audience, all in black, no baton or music-stand in sight, for over two hours (three in the case of the St Matthew), as tenor soloist, Evangelist, conductor, the very embodiment of the old Leipzig Kantor, channelling the spirit of Passion text and music with unfailing drama. His recordings offer a two-dimensional but nonetheless estimable reflection of this lost phenomenon.

As a bonus, Schreier and his team (with starry soloists including Roberta Alexander, Olaf Bär and Robert Holl) recorded three arias from the rescension of the Passion which Bach made for a revival in 1727.

This disc of studio recordings made between 1956 and 1960 features one of the greatest and distinguished contemporary classical guitarists: Julian Bream. It seems extraordinary but the discography of his youth has only been partially re-mastered on CD. This recording features genuine rarities including the Lennox Berkeley Sonatina.

These interpretations are becoming more and more established. “A rare treat, Kuijken – and Bach – at their very best” BBC Music Magazine. This volume contains cantatas for the 15th to 18th Sundays after Trinity.

For this recording, husband and wife duo Michael and Regine Kofler have chosen works which are dear to their hearts and they have regularly featured in their recitals. Many are existing arrangements, but they have arranged a few works themselves. They include compositions by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Ibert, Berthomieu, Fauré, Tournier, Rossini and Saint-Saëns.

This historic Munich Radio recording was made in 1960.