Johann Sebastian Bach

Long considered inferior and even detrimental to the original work, transcriptions are today a recognised and much lauded part of the musical catalogue. On this wonderful recording the highly talented young harpsichordist and organist, Benjamin Alard (born 1985) plays transcriptions of music by J S Bach and proves why he is considered one of the worlds great interpreters of music from this period. He is currently organist at the church of St Louis en l’Ile, Paris.

The present album collects a representative cross section of Bach’s Latin church music that complements his extensive and rich repertoire of cantatas for the Sundays and feast days of the ecclesiastical year, works which Ton Koopman has already recorded with great success for Challenge Classics. It covers a broad chronological range from Bach’s time as cantor and music director in Leipzig, and includes the Magnificat from 1723, the Sanctus from 1724, the four Kyrie-Gloria Masses from the later 1730s, and the Christmas Gloria from the mid 1740s.

This romantic collection features numerous jewels from the Telarc catalogue, including Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” performed by Michael Chertock, and John O’Conor’s delightful playing of Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1. Other noteworthy tracks include O’Conor performing Debussy’s Claire de lune, and Simone Dinnerstein’s passionate rendition of Beethoven’s Goldberg Variation 21.

United Ensemble of Lucilin, the flagship contemporary music ensemble of the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg, opened the Fuga Libera collection in June 2004 with a remarkable double CD comprising six creations entrusted to the expert hands of Mark Foster (FUG501).They return for an equally original project. At the crossroads between period and modern instruments, Goldberg's Ghost takes possession of the score of the Goldberg Variations, from which the Aria, the Quodlibet and the complete canons have been retained, spiced up for the occasion with creations by Garth Knox, Bernard Struber,Ton de Kruyf, Brice Pauset and Marcel Reuter: an astonishing, inspired and prestigious mix.Anne Galowich's delicate harpsichord opens the ball and Garth Knox sets the tone on viola d'amore, for a fascinating initiatory quest which leads us to reflect on the timelessness of Bach's genius. To be discovered with eyes closed and greedy ears.

It should be remembered that Bach himself was one of the most assiduous adapters and arrangers of his own music and because these chamber pieces were primarily concerned with music-making, the instruments used very often reflected what was available to the composer at the time.

This music was not intended primarily for listeners and certainly not for public concerts. Baroque chamber music was intended almost exclusively as a way for the performer to further his musical education and training, and at the same time to give him pleasure. Its second purpose was to serve as an exercise and testing ground for composers. Because this music is primarily made for the intimate communion of composers and performers, and only readily includes an audience who can call themselves connoisseurs or discriminating enthusiasts, the audio disc, rather than the conventional concert performance, seems an ideal way to listen.

Profound in spirit and monumental in scope Bach’s Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin are arguably the most difficult original solo works ever written for the violin. Their formidable technical challenges, especially the persistent use of multiple stops, are not just virtuoso features but are the natural result of the complexity of Bach’s musical ideas and his understanding of the instrument.

Volume 1 of this new Naxos edition of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s pre-1940s recordings includes an account of J.S. Bach’s third Brandenburg Concerto that is lightyears away from the ‘historically informed’ norm of today, yet eloquent, deeply-felt and with a real sense of light and shade.

The two Mozart opera overtures are typically dramatic and intense, while in the ever-popular Eine kleine Nachtmusik Furtwängler caresses the melodies, allowing rhythms to stand proud and making effective use of dynamic contrasts.

The Overture to Schubert’s Rosamunde is especially weighty in Furtwängler’s hands, while the B flat Entr’acte is tender and warmly expressed, and the G major Ballet Music puckish and witty.

This release contains all of Schnabel’s commercial disc recordings of the works of J. S. Bach, a composer whose keyboard music the pianist felt was too intimate for performance in the concert hall. One of Schnabel’s greatest talents was the ability to employ not only seemingly natural tempos but, more importantly, the perfect tempo relationship between sections and movements. The Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier was the last recording Schnabel made before his death in 1951.