Recommendations please for JS Bach’s Orchestral Suites

[aligreto]

I certainly like Huggett - I think ditching the trumpets is a huge improvement.
Cafe Zimmerman are highly recommendable generally but I don't think the Suites are best-served by their spare and springy style - and of course they are spread across at least 4 CDs.

I don't think Suzuki has been mentioned - these are velvety-smooth, a complete antidote to the spikier renderings.
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Quite correct; Suzuki has not been mentioned and I do have the 5 box sets of Cantatas and Sacred Works. Will the completest in me search this out???

[aligreto]

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Pinnock and Koopman certainly need to be investigated; thank you for those recommendations.

Edit: I have Pinnock in the Brandenburgs but I do not know why I do not have his versions of the Orchestral Suites!

[Jo498]

It's not really my favorite music but I recently got hold of a somewhat notorious recording of the pieces: William Malloch leads a Boston ensemble with one player per part (so only five strings, even when together with 3 trumpets) and takes the "slow" parts of the ouvertures about as fast as the fast parts. It certainly is interesting and quite different to the others I have heard, not sure about availability or whether in the last 25 years some other ensembles have followed this example...

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[aligreto]

It's not really my favorite music but I recently got hold of a somewhat notorious recording of the pieces: William Malloch leads a Boston ensemble with one player per part (so only five strings, even when together with 3 trumpets) and takes the "slow" parts of the ouvertures about as fast as the fast parts. It certainly is interesting and quite different to the others I have heard, not sure about availability or whether in the last 25 years some other ensembles have followed this example...

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That certainly looks like a very different approach indeed; thank you for that.

[aligreto]

My first purchase as a direct result of this thread....





....more for sentimental reasons than anything else. One of the first CDs that I ever bought was JSB's Brandenburgs performed by these forces so the completist in me demanded that I purchase their version of the Orchestral Suites!


Edit: I really enjoyed the music making on these performances; it was well paced and had the appropriate lilt for dance music. There is also a good level of energy in the performances which moves them along. Yes, I am very pleased with this acquisition.

[jochanaan]

There are so many fine recordings of these Works, and it is indeed hard to choose. My own favorite BTW is the one with

the Linde Consort conducted/led by Hans Martin-Linde.

It was released for the first time in the 1980es on LP by EMI on the Reflexe series, but it has also been rereleased on CD in the Reflexe series. A worthy companion to the same ensemble´s recording of the Brandenburg concertos.

I checked out Suite #3 by Linde on YouTube the other day.  A fine reading marked by lovely playing and tempo choices right in the middle, not too fast nor too slow.

[aligreto]

Thank you for the feedback; I am looking forward to hearing it.

[aligreto]

I have now ordered the Fasolis....






Edit: These interpretations and performances are filled with such vibrancy and drive that it is a delight to experience how they bring new life to these works. The playing is wonderful and the tempi are brisk and sometimes very brisk but this drives these electrifying performances . This is a very exciting set and very warmly recommended.

[aligreto]

I have now added the Pinnock to my collection....





Edit: I liked the Pinnock versions quite a lot. One gets standard Pinnock here. I thought that they were well played, the tempi were good and the performances had the requisite "lilt" in them which is appropriate given that these are Suites.

[jlaurson]

Dip Your Ears, No. 137 (Orchestral Suites Reconstructed)



or



Best Recordings of 2013 (#9)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suites (Overtures), Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik, Harmonia Mundi 501578



Also very good are Freiburg BO & Academy of Ancient Music, two very recent entries.

[aligreto]

Dip Your Ears, No. 137 (Orchestral Suites Reconstructed)



or



Best Recordings of 2013 (#9)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Suites (Overtures), Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik, Harmonia Mundi 501578



Also very good are Freiburg BO & Academy of Ancient Music, two very recent entries.

Thank you for those recommendations; they are both on my Wish List 

[prémont]

Thank you for those recommendations; they are both on my Wish List 

In my opinion the Berlin Akademie recording is - compared to the great competition- not more than acceptable, and certainly no match for e..g. the Linde consort or Freiburg BO.

[Gurn Blanston]

I've always been very fond of this version, had it since its initial release. It's the one I go back to:

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[aligreto]

In my opinion the Berlin Akademie recording is - compared to the great competition- not more than acceptable, and certainly no match for e..g. the Linde consort or Freiburg BO.

An interesting contrasting opinion; I will see if I can get a listen to even some extracts on YouTube.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I've always been very fond of this version, had it since its initial release. It's the one I go back to:

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That's the one I've got. Happy with it. Also, conveniently gets them all on 1 disc by not taking all the repeats.

[aligreto]

I've always been very fond of this version, had it since its initial release. It's the one I go back to:

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When I first saw this post I said to myself "Wait a minuit, that cover looks awfully familiar!" Sure enough I do own it [along with their really good Brandenburgs] and I agree with both posters above that it is a very good buy. I will have to amend my first post in this thread accordingly.