Bach, CPE: (A) Journey Around

Advantages: A definite easy listen
Disadvantages: Maybe too easy

...exactly say im 'into' it, i jus fancied a change. Its a good CD if u want to relax or for background music if u have sophisticated dinner parties! Not one of the most used CDs iv bought. In fact i only listen to it about once evry 2 months so it isn't exactly excellent value for money. Below is a list of the tracks incase ur interested. The CD is priced around £19.99 and available from most music stores such as HMV and Virgin Megastore. CD 1 Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Pachelbel: Canon JS Bach - Air 'on the G string' Mozart - Ave verum corpus Handel - Largo JS Bach - Jesus bleibet meine Freude Mozart - Clarinet Concerto Beethoven - 'Emporer' Concerto Mascagni - Intermezzo Bruch - Violin Concerto Rutter - The Lort is my shepherd Saint-Saens - Aquarium Holst - Venus Chopin - Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor Faure - Pie Jesu Shostakovich... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Exquisite
Disadvantages: 1950s recording remastered in 1981

...I can scarcely believe this hasn’t been reviewed before. Were I to be forced to listen to but one piece of music for the rest of my life, then J.S Bach’s Goldberg variations would be my immediate and unqualified nomination, and if I was given the opportunity to choose a specific recording, then the 1956 Glenn Gould would certainly be top of my list. A few notes on the piece of music itself; Written in 1742, just eight years from his death, the Goldberg Variations represents one of the highest points in cultural achievement of any composer in the western tradition. JS Bach came from a large extended family famous for their musical ability, for around a hundred years it was virtually compulsory that every aristocratic family in central Europe employed one of the Bach clan as their principal composer. Bach lived at a crucially... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Brilliant, stirring, excitingly unpredictable, fresh performance; "genius" is not hyperbole in Argerich's case.
Disadvantages: Reflecting its LP origins, the CD lasts only 50' 16"!

...repetitive, rigidly structured, mathematically-perfect nature of his music. On returning to the same theme, Martha always reveals something new and unexpected. She makes every piece completely hers. She might place a very slight but significant pause here, use an unusually stronger touch there, or begin in a hushed tone yonder, slowly building into a heavy, deliberate playing that rumbles in the lower register. These, along with that breathless rhythm in the faster passages, all add a joy and vibrancy to Bach’s elegant music. For instance, in the Toccata, one can almost hear her piano begin to “smile” happily at the 8:45 mark. She humanizes the music, giving it an intimate quality, making it vividly alive and completely captivating. I’m certain that were he around today, Bach himself would appreciate her sparkling interpretations very much... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful