The Bach cantata pilgrimage of conductor John Eliot Gardiner, with his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, began on Christmas of 1999 and continued through the year 2000. At first the musicians retraced some of Bach's steps through northern Germany, then performed in a variety of churches in England and northwestern Europe, matching the cantatas as closely as possible to the events in the liturgical year for which they were intended. It was an impressive logistical undertaking, supported financially by the Prince of Wales, among others, and the handsomely packaged live recordings that emerged from the project have taken several years to appear. This one is an excellent example of why they were worth the wait. There's nothing so radical about Gardiner's interpretations; he uses a moderate-sized choir at a time when the cutting-edge favors very small groups or even one voice per part, and his soloists, while more than competent, aren't the sort around whom a performance can be organized, as with some of the recent Bach cantata discs directed by Ton Koopman. Where Gardiner excels is in the pure human understanding of the texts Bach sets and of his response to them. Hear the almost sarcastic tone of the opening bass aria of the Cantata No. 181, Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181 (CD 2, track 6, the only possible complaint against the packaging is that there is no full tracklist other than the German and English texts of the cantatas themselves), or the militantly anti-Catholic and anti-"Turkish" (it's not only the Jews who get rough treatment from Bach) Cantata No. 126, "Erhalte uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort," BWV 126. Here Gardiner pushes tenor James Gilchrist to the absolute limit in the at first deceptively prayerful but soon over-the-top aria "Sende deine Macht von oben" (CD 2, track 12); Gardiner's conception of the overall mood rules the interpretation. He expands on those conceptions, taking into account historical and musicological matters, in booklet notes, based on his own journals during the trip, and these are in many cases worth the purchase price by themselves; they offer exceptional syntheses of technical and critical perspectives. Gardiner's Bach series isn't the most "perfect" available, but it may be the most profound. The sound in both these locations (one in the Netherlands, one in Britain) is clear, aided perhaps by backup rehearsal recordings made in case of fluffed notes or coughing audiences. © TiVo

To mark the 300th anniversary of the publication of Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Julien Libeer had the idea of presenting it in an unusual light: here he initiates a dialogue in which Bach’s major-key prelude-and-fugue pairs "converse" with later pieces (in the corresponding minor keys) by composers who, in their own way, have built upon the advances Johann Sebastian made in his foundational undertaking. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Ligeti, and Schoenberg are all part of the conversation with the Leipzig Cantor in this intricate play of mirrors... © harmonia mundi

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It is well known that Bach was fascinated by the Italian style, which he explored via a group of transcriptions and that influenced his own music deeply. His transcriptions for keyboard of Vivaldi concertos of various kinds show up on concert programs often enough, but few musicians have explored the phenomenon in so much depth and with so much flair as harpsichordist Justin Taylor. He does include transcriptions of Vivaldi concertos and the Italian Concerto, BWV 971, the work in which Bach distilled the Italian influences into a brilliant idiom of his own. Yet, he also shows other strands of Italian influence. There is a Toccata for harpsichord by Alessandro Scarlatti that fits nicely with Bach's improvisatory pieces like the Concerto in G major, BWV 973, somewhat frustratingly shorn of its fugue. He also contributes a transcription of his own of a Vivaldi flute concerto, seemingly trying to enter into Bach's frame of mind. Taylor's playing is energetic and bright, with a strong feel for the keyboardistic quality of Bach's music, and it is really quite fresh in its approach. Also notable is his harpsichord, an instrument resident at France's Château d'Assas, where the album was splendidly recorded. It is tuned a full step down from modern pitch, with some crunchy intervals that add tension to the music (it might have been good to have more information about the tuning). An extremely exciting Bach release, equally successful in conception and execution.© James Manheim /TiVo