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Reissued for the first time in its entirety and magnificently restored by Christophe Hénault at his Art et Son studio in Annecy from the original soundtracks, this first complete Bach work signed by Marie-Claire Alain is of stunning beauty. Recorded between 1959 and 1967 on various historical instruments in Denmark, Sweden and Germany, this recording, described by the performer herself as "the most instinctive" of the three she recorded, benefits from remarkable sound recordings that perfectly showcase the instruments chosen by the great French organist. Fighting from her youth against the mathematical rigidity with which Bach's music was too often treated, she strove instead to release its vital energy, leaving aside an overly strong dialectic and countering the overly emotional. This great artist was well aware that organ music, and Bach's in particular, had to be modelled on each instrument used, adapting its playing, sound and technique to each occasion. « For each concert I give », she said, « I am obliged to rework each work according to the instrument I have at my disposal.»Disappeared on February 27, 2013 at the age of eighty-six, Marie-Claire Alain had put an end to her career in 2010 after having given more than 2,500 concerts and recorded 250 discs that still retain their great historical value. (Qobuz / François Hudry)Record label note : This very first re-release on CD of Marie-Claire Alain’s first complete recording of Bach’s organ works has benefited from meticulous cleaning up of the original tapes. The very color of analog sound is preserved in all its purity. On a few tracks, it proved impossible to remove some minor noise and extraneous sounds that were captured during the recording sessions and which can still be heard. However, these defects are fortunately very few in number and do not detract in any way from the superb audio quality of these newly restored recordings of some exceptional performances. We will dwell on the poetic and perfectly balanced tones of the Varde organ, probably Marie-Claire Alain's favourite. Marie-Claire Alain plays the following organs (specified in each track) : — Denmark : Marcussen Organ, St.Jacobs Church, Varde (CDs 1, 2, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15) – Frobenius Organ, St.Nicholas Church, Middelfart (CDs 5, 6) – Marcussen Organ, St. Paul Church, Aarhus (CDs 6, 7, 8) – Marcussen Organ, St. Mary’s Church, Sønderborg (CDs 8, 9) – Marcussen Organ, Christians Church, Sønderborg (CDs 8, 9) – Marcussen Organ, Holmens Church, Copenhagen (CDs 9, 10, 11) – Marcussen Organ, St. Nicholas Church, Aabenraa (CD 13)  — Sweden : Marcussen Organ, St. Mary Church, Helsingborg (CDs 2, 3, 5) — Germany : Marcussen Organ, St. Peter's Cathedral (Dom), Schleswig (CD 11)

With this set of 12 cantatas, a few of them quite short, Dutch historical-instrument conductor Ton Koopman approaches the end of his monumental traversal of the complete Bach cantata corpus. The cantatas here mostly date from the last two decades of Bach's life. By this time Bach had cantatas from earlier cycles ready for most occasions pertaining to the liturgical year. Several of the works here were written for special occasions -- weddings in at least two cases. The orchestration for the most part is large and varied, with several pieces including trumpets and tympani; the Cantata No. 195, "Dem Gerechten muß das Licht," BWV 195, features a dazzling array of strings, oboe, oboe d'amore, transverse flutes, horns, trumpets, bassoon, timpani, and continuo. The result is that these pieces play to the strengths of Koopman's interpretations: the warm, flawless blend of the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and the sharp differentiation of the instruments within what remains a big, festive sound overall. The famous cantata in this group is the Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," BWV 140, with its "Sleepers Awake" chorale and its lovely variations on a pastoral theme. Sample the opening chorus (CD 2, track 1) for an idea of what you can expect in the various large choruses in the lesser-known cantatas in the set: each has its nice textural touches, and not a one gets lost in Koopman's expert interpretation. Hear the "Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde" (World, goodbye, I am tired of you) movement of the Cantata No. 158, "Der Friede sei mit dir," BWV 158, for an example of Koopman at his best: this odd combination of a bass aria with mantra-like interjections of the chorale from the choir's sopranos would throw a lesser conductor. The soloists in this set are also unusually effective. Soprano Sandrine Piau's voice is unhampered by the high pitch Koopman employs, and her soaring lyricism makes an effective foil for the unusual, rather English horn-like timbre of the alto of Bogna Bartosz. There is something a bit cool in Koopman's readings; for deep humanistic insights into Bach's music, the evolving cantata set by John Eliot Gardiner may be preferable. But in the public, festive music heard here, this lion of the historical-performance movement is hard to beat. © TiVo

One of the world's most respected interpreters of J.S. Bach's music, Simon Preston recorded the complete organ works for Deutsche Grammophon between 1987 and 2000 on organs located in England, Germany, Denmark, and Norway. This 14-disc box set in the affordable Collectors Edition series brings together the trio sonatas, the preludes and fugues, the concertos, the orgelbüchlein, the chorales, and the Clavier-Übung, Part III, and also includes the toccatas, fantasias, partitas, and other pieces that appeared on separate releases. Preston's playing is lucid, alert, and incisive, and his choices of stops produce clear tones that make the counterpoint utterly transparent. If one listens to several discs in a row, Preston's consistently bright sonorities and mostly brisk tempos may seem a little predictable, but any perceived lack of variety is certainly compensated by his skill and thorough mastery of this massive body of work. These recordings present the organs in nearly ideal conditions, with superb sound quality in moderately resonant spaces and without the usual blemishes associated with church recordings, such as the noises of the instruments' mechanisms or random background distractions. Because the discs were printed with minimal content information, the booklet must be consulted for identifying particular works and their track listings. Included in the booklet is an essay on Bach's organ music, as well as a helpful alphabetical list of the works with their BWV numbers and the corresponding CDs. © TiVo

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The Swingle Singers' scat vocal jazz swing arrangements of Johann Sebastian Bach classics were among their most popular material, particularly in Europe (where they actually enjoyed some chart success in the U.K.). Accompanied by nothing more than double bass and drums, the octet distributed their vocal parts equally among two sopranos, two altos, two tenors, and two basses, favoring brisk tempos. Occasionally, indeed, they were so brisk they verged on hyperventilation, as on "Prelude No. 1 in C Major" and the version of "Fugue No. 5 in D Major" drawn from "The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1." They do slow things down once in a while on numbers like "Aria" (from the composer's "Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major") and parts of "Sinfonia," which tend to tilt the mood a little more toward the classical. The album's inventive but a little white bread in its relentlessly wholesome, upbeat tone. Pop fans might hear echoes of the Swingle Singers' work, whether direct or coincidental, in the harmonies of artists like the Association and the Beach Boys, and a U.K. rock group, the Belfast Gypsies, a spinoff of Them, actually based its "Aria of the Fallen Angels" on the Swingle Singers' reading of "Aria" on this album.© TiVo

Even when playing Bach on a modern piano, most pianists interpret the composer's music through a Baroque stylistic lens: sharp attacks, quick releases, little to no pedal, a palate restricted to black and white and shades of gray, and a sense of austerity. Running against this trend, Soviet pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva plays Bach as if he were a Romantic composer. Fittingly, then, for this Regis disc licensed from A-Tempo in Prague, Nikolayeva fittingly chose a program of transcriptions with a similar emphasis: six by Busoni, including the demonic Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565; the titanic Chaconne from the Partita in D minor, BWV 1004; one by Myra Hess; the serene "Jesu bleibt meine Freude" from the Cantata No. 147; and one by Wilhelm Kempff, the haunting "Siciliano" from the Sonata in G minor, BWV 1031. These are all deeply Romantic performances. Nikolayeva's tone is rich and full with a bass that echoes deeply. Her lines are legato, each singing with complete independence. Her sonorities are lushly colored and balanced between clarity and warmth. Nikolayeva favors a very flexible tempo rubato, especially in slow movements, and her phrasing shapes the music extensively. Though they may antagonize purists, these are compelling performances that find universal themes in music three centuries old. Skillfully remastered by Paul Arden-Taylor from performances taped in Moscow in 1980, the sound here is surprisingly clear and real. © TiVo

Emmanuel Despax returns to Signum with a programme of JS Bach transcriptions. The title quotes Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (“Breathe, Hope”), brought to Despax’s mind following the news of the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, where he had attended many concerts of Bach’s music as a child. Despax describes Bach’s music as being “of such clarity, coherence and expressive power, that it is able to transcend its original medium, and to some extent, style”. This virtuosic programme combines both well-known transcriptions, such as the mighty Bach-Busoni Chaconne and Saint-Saën’s Overture, with recordings of several arrangements by the late 19th/early 20th century pianist Theodor Szántó’s – featuring his monumental and uncompromising transcriptions of the Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, and the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. © Signum Classics