Johann Sebastian Bach

“…Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra relish the considerable technical challenges posed by these transcriptions… those who enjoy their Bach as a full meat-and-two-veg course will love this release, and the Chandos recording is suitably lustrous.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2004 ****

“Weinberger brings clarity and sincerity to a programme of arrangements of varying quality and provenance” Choir & Organ

“Weinberger's version [of Bach’s Ricercar from The Musical Offering] is the most powerful I have ever heard, but the real distinction is that the tremendous strength continues unabated from beginning to end. I felt totally drained by the conclusion, and I think it is fair to say that the reading is one that no listener would ever forget.” MusicWeb International

“Scholars are now sure that Bach did not plan his four orchestral suites as a set – unlike the six Brandenburg Concertos. It seems likely, then, that the stylistic diversity exhibited in the suites is inadvertent, not, as in the case of the Brandenburgs, an overt display of compositional virtuosity.
On recordings, however, the suites are usually presented as an entity, so the fact that each has its own identifiable personality actually has taken on interpretive significance.
On this Telarc disc, Martin Pearlman effectively delineates the unique character of each work. The C major Suite is essentially lyrical, its phrases unfolding in long, florid arcs; the B minor suite is more fidgety, particularly in the Overture, with its tense trills; and the two D major suites combine grandeur and gaiety. Yet Pearlman remains true to the specific nature of each dance form, as well – listen to the four bourées in succession (the only dance that appears in every suite), for example, and you will find a remarkable consistency of tempo and spirit.
Special attention has also been paid to details of instrumental balance, with admirably transparent results. Some might prefer a bit more thrust and bite from the trumpets in the D major works, where Pearlman prefers to blend the brass into the orchestral fabric, but the sound is still exhilaratingly brilliant.
The crystalline quality of Telarc's recording reveals a few slight imperfections in the strings' intonation; otherwise Boston Baroque's virtuosity and élan leaves little to be desired. Indeed, the Bostonians' interpretation is a strong contender in a crowded field.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010