Bach's Bungalow

[jlaurson]

brief note on Ragna Schirmer's Goldberg Variations:
Dip Your Ears, No. 102
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2010/04/dip-your-ears-no-102.html

[SonicMan46]

brief note on Ragna Schirmer's Goldberg Variations:
Dip Your Ears, No. 102
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2010/04/dip-your-ears-no-102.html

Jens - thanks for the comments on this pianist in the Goldberg Variations - I see two offerings of these works; one w/ her picture and the other you're posting above - do you know the difference?  I plan to add her to an Amazon want list today - thanks!  Dave

[jlaurson]

Jens - thanks for the comments on this pianist in the Goldberg Variations - I see two offerings of these works; one w/ her picture and the other you're posting above - do you know the difference?  I plan to add her to an Amazon want list today - thanks!  Dave

Yes. One (white w/picture) is the original release, the other (purple)  is the re-release. I describe the re-release, which includes the fine essay. Not a bare-bones budget-re-release at all.

[SonicMan46]

Yes. One (white w/picture) is the original release, the other (purple)  is the re-release. I describe the re-release, which includes the fine essay. Not a bare-bones budget-re-release at all.

Thanks - Dave

[DarkAngel]

An essential boxset for Bach fans
Keep a sharp eye out for used versions of this great out of print 11 CD boxset, has some of the best Bach keyboard performances available inside..........I got one a few months ago for $40 used at Amazon USA seller gohastings, highlights include:

Glen Wilson WTC I, II using harpsichord
(reference harpsicord version to date for me)

Scott Ross Partitas 1-6 using harpsichord
(I have heard nothing clearly better but Andreas Staier version is at same exaulted level)

Alan Curtis French & English Suites using harpsichord
(not the very best which is Rousset/Ambroise for me, but much better than I expected, top 3-4 range with much competition from many versions. I have many baroque operas conducted by Alan Curtis and didn't realize his strong showing as a solo keyboard performer)

Zuzanna Ruzickova Two & Three part inventions using harpsichord
(these I was not thrilled with, frequent use of lute stop effects several of which annoyed me, just average)

The Wilson and Ross performances are essential so this is easy way to pick them up together

[Antoine Marchand]

I believe some members will be interested in this set:



Scheduled for release on 31 May 2010.

J.S. Bach - Mass in B minor, BWV232 [Breitkopf Edition, edited by J. Rifkin]
Susan Hamilton (soprano), Cecilia Osmond (soprano), Margot Oitzinger (alto), Thomas Hobbs (tenor) & Matthew Brook (bass)
Dunedin Consort & Players
John Butt (director)
2-SACD set (hybrid multi-channel)

The Dunedin Consort's recording of Bach's Mass in B Minor revisits the spectacular individual virtuosity that made the Messiah recording so successful. This is the premiere recording of the work in the new Breitkopf edition, edited by Joshua Rifkin, a leading thinker in authentic period performance, who fully endorses John Butt's interpretation.

Bach's Mass capitalizes on the very essence of the group's skills: skilled virtuosic choral performance coupled with outstanding, characterful solo singing.

Bach's Mass in B Minor is undoubtedly his most spectacular choral work and the Dunedin Consort's single-voice performance enables a level of clarity and expression that is not traditionally a feature of modern choral performance.

This recording features several soloists from the acclaimed recording of Bach's Matthew Passion, which was named the BBC Music Magazine's Benchmark.

[DarkAngel]

I believe some members will be interested in this set:



Scheduled for release on 31 May 2010.

J.S. Bach - Mass in B minor, BWV232 [Breitkopf Edition, edited by J. Rifkin]
Susan Hamilton (soprano), Cecilia Osmond (soprano), Margot Oitzinger (alto), Thomas Hobbs (tenor) & Matthew Brook (bass)
Dunedin Consort & Players
John Butt (director)
2-SACD set (hybrid multi-channel)

I will be a buyer.............
The Dunedin Consort performances of Handel Messiah and Bach SMP rank up near the top of each for me

[DarkAngel]

Also for May 11 release in USA..............
Several 3CD sets of Herreweghe's Bach cantatas, oratorios, and passions at reduced price 

[DarkAngel]

Lute Harpsichord

I recently purchased Hanssler boxset of Bach keyboard works from Berkshire Records and it contained several Cds by Robert Hill played on a Lute Harpsichord, this sound was new to me

Very sweet sounding keyboard with no sharp bite like standard harpsichord and a deep full resonant sound, sounds like a combination of harpsichord and clavicord. JS Bach was very found of these and owned two at the time of his death.

Here is youtube sound sample with picture of typical model........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14OjP909IG4&feature=related

[SonicMan46]

Lute Harpsichord

I recently purchased Hanssler boxset of Bach keyboard works from Berkshire Records and it contained several Cds by Robert Hill played on a Lute Harpsichord, this sound was new to me

Very sweet sounding keyboard with no sharp bite like standard harpsichord and a deep full resonant sound, sounds like a combination of harpsichord and clavicord. JS Bach was very found of these and owned two at the time of his death.

DA - I really like the lute harpsichord, probably have about a half dozen discs w/ that instrument, including at least one w/ Robert Hill shown below - recommended!  Dave 

[DarkAngel]

DA - I really like the lute harpsichord, probably have about a half dozen discs w/ that instrument, including at least one w/ Robert Hill shown below - recommended!  Dave 

Yes I have that plus this 2CD set also by Robert Hill with lute harpsichord.........
Also a youtube with Robert Hill playing lute harpsichord:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woh8UHdjl1M&feature=PlayList&p=2931F34204F1063D&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=36
 

[Opus106]

http://www.bachplayer.net/

Apart from the fact the it streams Bach's music all day long, there is nothing to write home about. The music, too, is shuffled about. I just heard one movement from an English suite, played by Curtis, then from a Vivaldi transcription, with Koopman at the organ, and now he is playing a variation from 988. I'm led to believe that this site is maintained by the YouTube user called bacholoji. Do visit his (or her, as the case may be) channel if you're a Bach aficionado -- tons of music there!

[Franco]

Gonzalo Ruiz is always on the lookout for another piece to add to his repertoire. Because he'd already mastered most of the finest Baroque music composed for oboe, Mr. Ruiz—a faculty member at New York's Juilliard School and one of today's most sought-after woodwind soloists—decided to look through J.S. Bach's music for pieces originally featuring other instruments to transcribe into new versions showcasing his oboe. In the flexible practices of the 18th century, flutes were often substituted for oboes—Mozart himself once tried to pass off a rewritten oboe concerto as a "new" flute concerto—so Mr. Ruiz turned to Bach's flute literature, which led him directly to one of the most famous flute-centric works in classical music, "Orchestral Suite No. 2." How would it sound, he wondered, if transposed to an oboe-friendlier key?

Mr. Ruiz set to work, and in the process wound up reconstructing what might be one of the lost treasures of classical music: the original version of one of Bach's—and music's—greatest achievements. Mr. Ruiz's recording of the ur- versions of all the suites—restored to their original glory using authentic tunings, instrumentation and performance styles—with his fellow Juilliard faculty member Monica Huggett's Ensemble Sonnerie, earned a 2009 Grammy nomination.

RTRH

Interesting.  The article goes on to report how the work is much better suited for the oboe, falling under the fingers more naturally and in a much better range than for flute.  I had not heard of this performer and may look into this CD or others.

[karlhenning]

Interesting.  The article goes on to report how the work is much better suited for the oboe, falling under the fingers more naturally and in a much better range than for flute.

As "transposed to an oboe-friendlier key"? ; )

[Franco]

As "transposed to an oboe-friendlier key"? ; )

Apparently according to the article it is better for the strings as well, and the thesis put forward (based on research by Ruiz) is that it was for oboe originally and was transcribed for flute at some later point. 

[karlhenning]

Thanks!

[Antoine Marchand]

For a long time I have wanted to see a highly praised TV series dedicated to Bach's life, produced in the former East Germany during the eighties; but unfortunately it is not available with subtitles in English or Spanish. Anyway, yesterday I found a 2-DVD set rather cheap on amazon.de: 

[jlaurson]

For a long time I have wanted to see a highly praised TV series dedicated to Bach's life, produced in the former East Germany during the eighties; but unfortunately it is not available with subtitles in English or Spanish. Anyway, yesterday I found a 2-DVD set rather cheap on amazon.de: 

It includes a great episode where Bach, spending a voluntary year at the kolkhoz, gets inspired to the very best of his most secular music...

[prémont]

Apparently according to the article it is better for the strings as well, and the thesis put forward (based on research by Ruiz) is that it was for oboe originally and was transcribed for flute at some later point.

In S. Rampe´s Bach Ouvertures set for MDG you can hear a presumed original for solo violin and strings (in a minor). At least as convincing as Ruiz´s oboe version.

[prémont]

For a long time I have wanted to see a highly praised TV series dedicated to Bach's life, produced in the former East Germany during the eighties; but unfortunately it is not available with subtitles in English or Spanish. Anyway, yesterday I found a 2-DVD set rather cheap on amazon.de: 

Thanks, Antoine. I am goimg to order this.