Johann Sebastian Bach

“There is unpredictable excitement in the random way the fruits of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Pilgrimage are being released, as the next steps of that memorable year are retraced with autumn cantatas from Leipzig (19th Sunday after Trinity) and three Reformation pieces.
Volume 10 represents another compelling reminder of what Gardiner can achieve in Bach when he has the wind behind him – 'living' these works appears to have fired the imagination.
The largest work here is Ein feste Burg (No 80) whose gothic arches of sound find rasping advocacy in the Schlosskirche on the site where Luther preached. His famous hymn is most effectively fortified with a rousing bass sackbut in the first chorus. Here and in the outstanding sister-piece Gott, der Herr (No 79), the performances are distinguished by a palpable immediacy.
The cathartic duet 'Wie selig' (No 80) from William Towers and James Gilchrist is a treasure.
The quality of music never lets up in Potsdam.
Wo soll ich fliehen hin (No 5) is one of the finest of Bach's chorale cantatas, its hymn nurtured by an arresting concerto style which conveys the gnawing presence of sin and the yearning to escape its insidious influence. The contrast between its opening fantasia and the radiant tenor aria 'Ergiesse' is skilfully negotiated: James Gilchrist relishes the transformation of the chorus's 'flight' motif into one of tactile pleasure as the divine spring washes away all man's blemishes.
Mention must be made of Peter Harvey's cultivated and flexible bass. Joanne Lunn is perhaps not ideal but the chorus and orchestra are in stirring form and the recorded sound is captivating.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…Gardiner's lively and articulate responses to Bach's dance rhythms… refresh and enliven the music, often in a quite distinctive way. The mighty fugal chorus of Ein Feste Burg (BWV 80) comes off splendidly, with Bach's quotation of the hymn melody in the uppermost and lowest strands of the score emerging from the full textures with forceful energy.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2005 ****

“Kreisler was in his sixties when these recordings were made in late 1930s. Although it would be idle to pretend that he is technically the equal of Perlman or Szeryng, his artistry carries authority.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2006 ****

“Klemperer always declared that the Vienna Philharmonic was his favourite orchestra. On the strength of these performances, most of them recorded on his last visit to the Austrian capital, the feeling seems to have been mutual. The Jupiter… is a reading as fully integrated, alert and sensitively contoured as one could ever want with - as in the Bruckner - control of structure of the essence. The two Beethoven symphonies enjoy the same faithful and open recording and benefit from superb playing. Schubert's Unfinished receives...a searing interpretation, as is - in a lighter vein - the fully energised, impassioned Don Juan (amazing from an 83-year-old) in the same programme, again wonderfully recorded.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2005

“These are not entirely modern-instrument performances.
Angela Hewitt includes, as she says, 'a harpsichord in its traditional role as continuo'.
Combining old and new isn't unusual because in the early years of period performing practices, the likes of Thurston Dart, Raymond Leppard and George Malcolm married a harpsichord to modern strings and wind. What's unusual here is the melding of two different types of keyboard, one sharply transient, the other ductile; and just how their functions dovetail with one another may be heard in the slow movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No 5. Hewitt also adds a cello to the continuo while contributing notes inégales, appogiature and other embellishments to her own line. The result is a potent artistic synergy between the musicians.
Hewitt doesn't slavishly follow a formula, though. In the Adagio of No 1 and the Adagio epiano sempre of No 3 (where she is most intense because both remind her of Passion music), she omits the keyboard's bass notes for the exposition of the theme but only in No 1 does she play them for its return at the end. In these instances, in the Andante of No 7 and elsewhere, she also varies the prominence of her left hand to give the ripieno string bass a strong presence too, while delineating the right hand melody most feelingly.
Interpretative decisions are intelligently applied; and Hewitt is at her best in the slow movements, all of which are played with the finest sensibility. If a more sinewy approach to a few of the outer movements might not have come amiss, her ability to gauge the critical notes of phrases so as to maintain an elastically accented rhythm offers ample compensation; and the consummate Australian Chamber Orchestra is with her every step of the way. The flute is placed backward in BWV1044 but otherwise recorded balance and sound ensure unimpeded concentration on the performances.
Small changes in level between some works are easily adjusted. A superb pair of discs.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010