Bach, CPE: St Mark Passion

Advantages: If you like Bach, the piano or jazz you'll like it
Disadvantages: Just the one tune that I don't care for

...Many Jazz musicians train their fingers by playing Bach in various styles and at various speeds - I played Bach not only for the training but because I liked the harmonies, chord changes and arpeggios. Jacques Loussier has taken playing Bach to an art form. I like this album only and NOT volume 2. The original Play Bach album contains most of bach's better known works such as His Toccata and Fugue, also the 1st and 2nd preludes and the 1st and 2nd fugues, hair on a G string (joke) and Jesu joy of man's desiring. This really is a cracking album with the trio (including bass and drums) really jazzing up bach and playing some pieces with phenominal speed, cool showmanship and originality. It's a swinging, foot tapping, jazz party! In my opinion there is only one song on this album that isn't brilliant and that is Jesu joy of man... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic

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"!

...sweeps you away with her total mastery of the piece. You enter what might seem like a complex maze, as she traces the oft-changing melodic path dotted with lots of little musical surprises. In a few places, she gradually pumps up the pace and volume leading up to the climax, playing as if relentlessly driven by some unseen force, tossing off those diabolical little trills and mordents with cavalier abandon. I haven’t been this astonished by almost any other performance of Bach. A few (very few) stodgy critics may find her interpretations a bit "excessive," but a colorful, lively and passionate Bach has never been distasteful to me. Her Allemandes and Sarabandes are softer, gentler and more introspective, while she stirs up excitement in the faster sections with both subtle and overt shifts in mood from one phrase to the next, from one... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Romantic orchestral music
Disadvantages: Only 1 hour - eat quickly for a romantic dinner

...supporting and complementing the soloist performances. Bach was born to a musical family in Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685.He trained from an early age as an organist and choirmaster taking up posts in Kothen and Leipzig. The CD was released in November 1983 on EMI Classics label and costs £11.99. The music is romantic and tender that irresistibly arouses passionate and loving feelings. It is a beautiful recording with that has to be heard. Play it during a romantic candle-lit dinner for two.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful