Bach's Orchestral Music (Brandenburgs, Suites & Concertos)

[71 dB]

It has become very apparent to me that original instruments cannot guarntee excellence or even intelligence. They can only guarantee a particular sound.

This has always been clear to me.  0:)

[Bunny]

I disagree, Antoine. I think Bunny implicit uses the unsuccessful concert event to detract from the recording.

I have little or nothing to say about the recording.  I don't have it, and see no need to purchase it.  What I have to say is about the live performance of the Brandenburgs by Egarr on that particular night, and about the specific nature of the works.  I don't really care very much about the recording because the live performance was indifferent at best: What I heard was far from impressive.  I will allow that the recording may be very successful, however, in concert the transformation of grand works into confectionary miniatures didn't work for me on any level. 

[Coopmv]

I have little or nothing to say about the recording.  I don't have it, and see no need to purchase it.  What I have to say is about the live performance of the Brandenburgs by Egarr on that particular night, and about the specific nature of the works.  I don't really care very much about the recording because the live performance was indifferent at best: What I heard was far from impressive.  I will allow that the recording may be very successful, however, in concert the transformation of grand works into confectionary miniatures didn't work for me on any level. 

I continue to feel that it is still too early to pass any judgment on Egarr with regard to his success with the AAM at this point.  To date, he has had only a tiny fraction of the tenure Hogwood had with the ensemble.  Moreover, are the current members of the AAM every bit as good as the one Hogwood was conducting?  To be sure, an ensemble/conductor that are highly successful in recordings cannot be a total flop in live performance.  It makes more sense to debate in five years as to whether Egarr's association with the AAM has been a success story.

[Bunny]

I continue to feel that it is still too early to pass any judgment on Egarr with regard to his success with the AAM at this point.  To date, he has had only a tiny fraction of the tenure Hogwood had with the ensemble.  Moreover, are the current members of the AAM every bit as good as the one Hogwood was conducting?  To be sure, an ensemble/conductor that are highly successful in recordings cannot be a total flop in live performance.  It makes more sense to debate in five years as to whether Egarr's association with the AAM has been a success story.

You have confused me with this post.  I don't really understand why you feel that anyone has to pass judgement on Egarr and the AAM now or in 5 years.  I have only said that I attended a concert which was not a top performance.  I'm not advocating that you relegate him to the dust heap, merely a few of his recordings, including his Goldbergs, which I own.  I have nothing to say about how good or bad his Brandenburg recording is because I haven't heard it.  I also have nothing to say about the talents of the present ensemble, although I doubt that Egarr is as good a harpsichordist as either Hogwood or Rousset.  I will also say that if one has ever seen Les Talens Lyriques in concert, they will certainly agree that Rousset has gathered a first rate ensemble. 

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying one of Hogwood's excellent Martinu recordings that he has made with Bohuslav Matousek and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

[Que]

New interesting new issue!



Sample HERE. Further details HERE.

Q

[jlaurson]

CD Pick of the Week: Bach's Orchestral Suites Reconstructed
http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=630


Monica Hugget is one of the baroque music scene's most cherished pioneer-veterans.
Co-founder of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra with Ton Koopman and founding member
of the Academy of Ancient Music, she also worked with Trevor Pinnock and his English
Concert and she has led Toronto-based Tafelmusik. She is currently the head of the
Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Ireland Baroque Orchestra and of course the Ensemble
Sonnerie which she founded, then still a Trio, in 1982.

When someone like Monica Huggett brings out a recording of Bach's Orchestral Suites
it's a notable event, not the least because new and exciting recordings of the Suites
—or Concert-Ouvertures—are rather more scarce than new recordings of the Brandenburg-
or Keyboard Concertos. It's also notable because Mme. Huggett goes her own ways in
reconstructing those three suites that we only have in transcriptions from now-lost-
originals...

[Coopmv]

One of my most prized recordings is a live concert held in the mid 80's at the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress featuring an all-Bach program performed by the Academy of Ancient Music Chamber Ensemble,
which I taped off the air from my local NPR station.  Principal performers in that concert included:

Simon Standage, Lisa Beznosiuk, Catherine MacKintosh, Monica Huggett, Trevor Jones and Christopher Hogwood.

What a concert and I wish I were there.  I digitized that open-reel tape early this year so I can more easily access the music.

[Antoine Marchand]

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites
Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)
3 SACDs
Bis

Bach Collegium Japan was first noticed internationally for undertaking the huge project of recording the complete church cantatas of J. S. Bach. Although the ensemble's discography consists of predominately vocal works, the participating instrumentalists have attracted acclaim ever since the outset. On the present offering, it is Bach's two great sets of orchestral works that form the programme and the choir of the BCJ is silent. Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki first recorded the Brandenburg Concertos in 2000, but now return to these great works. The new recording took place in the recently completed MUZA Kawasaki Hall, a venue that is highly suitable to an approach focussing on the chamber music qualities of this music. In four of the concertos Masaaki Suzuki has chosen to replace the traditional cello with the violoncello da spalla - a smaller instrument played horizontally on the shoulder or held against the breast. The instrument has already featured in the BCJ Cantata series, and opens for new possibilities in timbre, for instance in Concerto No. 6, where the violoncello da spalla blends particularly well with the two solo violas and the viola da gambas. Making a new recording also provided the opportunity to record these in many ways multidimensional works in 5.0 Surround Sound, releasing them as hybrid SACDs. This is also the format of the included recordings of the Orchestral Suites, originally released in 2005 to great and universal acclaim. The German website klassik.com called the 2-CD set 'incredibly perfect Bach!' and named it one of the reference recordings of these oft-recorded works, while the Financial Times (UK) listed it as one of the outstanding classical discs of 2005, remarking that 'Suzuki's traversal of the Bach orchestral suites combine scholarship and style without compromising the music's expressiveness.' In the Brandenburg Concertos and the Suites, Bach explored an Italian and a French genre respectively, and in his inimitable way transcended the boundaries of both. This attractive box at a very advantageous price combines both sets performed by one of the leading Baroque ensembles in high fidelity recordings - not to be missed! Please note: The music on this Hybrid Super Audio CD can be played back in Stereo (CD and SACD) as well as in 5.0 Surround sound (SACD).

(From the ArkivMusic website)

[jlaurson]

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites
Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)
3 SACDs
Bis

And Gardiner is bringing out his first recording of the Brandenburg Concertos next month. What a embarrassment of riches, indeed.

[Renfield]

And Gardiner is bringing out his first recording of the Brandenburg Concertos next month.

!

[prémont]

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites
Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)
3 SACDs
Bis

Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki first recorded the Brandenburg Concertos in 2000, but now return to these great works. The new recording took place in the recently completed MUZA Kawasaki Hall,

Now I am confused, because on JPCs website:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Brandenburgische-Konzerte-Nr-1-6/hnum/6135008

the recording dates are referred to as 2000 and 2004. Is this really a new recording of the Brandenburgs?
The earlier released recording of the Brandenburgs was made in the year 2000 and ditto of the suites 2004.

[Antoine Marchand]

Now I am confused, because on JPCs website:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Brandenburgische-Konzerte-Nr-1-6/hnum/6135008

the recording dates are referred to as 2000 and 2004. Is this really a new recording of the Brandenburgs?
The earlier released recording of the Brandenburgs was made in the year 2000 and ditto of the suites 2004.

Hi, Premont.

I suppose JPC is wrong this time.

It's a new recording of the Brandenburgs. Here there is a link to the Badiarov's blog; he is, as you know, the father of these reconstructed violoncellos da spalla:

http://violoncellodaspalla.blogspot.com/2009/09/cello-da-spalla-in-brandenburg.html


P.S.: I forgot this link:

http://violoncellodaspalla.blogspot.com/2008/06/violoncello-da-spalla-bach-collegium.html

[prémont]

It's a new recording of the Brandenburgs. Here there is a link to the Badiarov's blog; he is, as you know, the father of these reconstructed violoncellos da spalla:

Thanks Antoine, I am convinced.

[Franco]

original instruments cannot guarntee excellence or even intelligence. They can only guarantee a particular sound.

And the sound of the recorder bothers me in the Brandenburg Concertos.

[dave b]

Same question I just posed re Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Is there any consensus of what are the best recordings of the Brandenberg Concertos? I have not posted in quite some time but am still very interested in classical music and listen to the local classical station all the time.

[prémont]

Same question I just posed re Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Is there any consensus of what are the best recordings of the Brandenberg Concertos? I have not posted in quite some time but am still very interested in classical music and listen to the local classical station all the time.

Brandenburg, - not Brandenberg.

There is a host of different recordings (I know ca. 150), and it is more about how you want these works to be played than about which one is the "best", because there is no "best" recording - only recordings preferred by by different listeners.

[71 dB]

The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock on Archiv.  0:)

[Coopmv]

I have over 20 versions of the Brandenburg Concertos between CD's and LP's.  The version by the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock is one of my top choices.  I also like the version by the Academy of St Martin and Neville Marriner from 1980.  While this latter version is non-HIP, the all-star cast soloists put on some very memorable performance ...

[DavidW]

One of the better ones I heard caught me by surprise and just floored me on the radio, and I've never heard them play before.  It's the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and looking it up is a bargain--

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Nos-1-4/dp/B00000IOM5

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-Suite/dp/B00000IOM6



I think they really sizzle here, capturing both the vitality of the works and the counterpoint between the voices.  Highly rec'd.

[Coopmv]

One of the better ones I heard caught me by surprise and just floored me on the radio, and I've never heard them play before.  It's the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and looking it up is a bargain--

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Nos-1-4/dp/B00000IOM5

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-Suite/dp/B00000IOM6



I think they really sizzle here, capturing both the vitality of the works and the counterpoint between the voices.  Highly rec'd.

I attended the complete Brandenburg Concertos performed by Gerarld Schwartz and the St Luke Chamber Orchestra on a New Year's Eve years ago in NY.  It was a spirited performance for the occasion.  All in all, I generally do not turn to any American ensembles for Brandenburg Concertos, as this is no Aaron Copland music.  Most average European ensembles are superior to what the US has to offer.