Bach, CPE & JS; Sweelinck: Harpsichord Works

Advantages: Excellent composer
Disadvantages: non

...I sallute to Bach. Bach can be very romantic, calm or even agitated (sometimes agressive) in his compositions. I like most of his composition especially his piano work. In his fourty eight Preludes and Fugues, if you played them all, you can experience a mixture of emotions that he has implanted in this particular set of work. I like to play Bach's Preludes and Fugues when I feel very down, very angry even when I am very happy. I will definitely find a piece that suit my emotion and mood, and feel much more better after playing them. Some of my... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Light, clear, could be played over and again
Disadvantages: Perhaps lacks a bit of magic or sparkle

...If I was to think of performers I would choose to play my favourite pieces of music, then I would not readily think of the Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra. But a friend of mine who played in the orchestra tipped me off that this was a good one. So I got hold of the CD, opened a bottle of red and sat back with an open mind. Surprise surprise, it's good. Enthusiastic playing for sure, with plenty of joie de vivre. The typical American attention to detail slightly grates with my British sense of spontaneity, but the flawless phrasing, breathing (and no doubt bowing too) and dynamics work in the overall performances because of the lack of indulgence in the tempi. Bach can all too easily sound like a mathematical exercise written out in notes, but there is a lightness and deftness of touch here in the conducting that lifts this out... 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