The German poet Goethe said, and is duly quoted in the booklet here, that a string quartet is "a spirited conversation among four reasonable people." That is not what Bach's Art of Fugue is, but string quartets seem impelled to keep performing the work, and audiences buy the move; the rarefied air of the string quartet seems to fit with Bach's contrapuntal mysteries somehow. This release by the Cuarteto Casals made classical best-seller charts in the late spring of 2023. It is one of the better string quartet attempts, both hewing to and departing from the work's Baroque character. First violinist Abel Tomás Realp mostly cultivates a glassy sound with little vibrato, as if his line were being played on an organ, but the other players allow themselves to be more expressive. The general approach is deliberate, and the members speak at length in the interview-style booklet about the necessity for deep contemplation in approaching the work. It is almost as if the group is seeking to clarify its contrapuntal intricacies. The music broadens out in the four canons, which are placed at the end right before the final fugue. That is given a little conclusion rather than being left hanging, as in Bach's unfinished manuscript, and it leads into the chorale Vor deinen Thron tret' ich, BWV 668, which Bach himself might have intended. The sound from Spain's Cardona monastery fits with the goals of the performance, which is to add a new layer of mystery to this perennially troublesome work.© James Manheim /TiVo

The music on this album comes from the first generation of the flute's existence as a solo instrument. Its status grew rapidly, and by the late 1730s, a Paris publisher saw money in issuing six violin-and-keyboard sonatas by Arcangelo Corelli in flute arrangements. These are rendered here by Baroque flutist Anna Besson and a pair of other crack young historically oriented players, and they are quite energetic, retaining the virtuosity of the original violin works. The major news here, though, is the group of pieces by French composer Jean-Baptiste Quentin (ca. 1690-ca. 1742), a younger follower of Corelli. These have never been recorded before, and they are fascinating. Quentin, like Corelli, was a violinist, and Quentin probably followed Corelli's French publisher in writing violin music that would work on the flute as well. Certainly, the figuration and the melodic content owe something to Corelli, and the movements have Italianate titles, mostly tempo indications, rather than following French practice. Yet there is something quite French about them, coming from the ornamentation and from the peculiar graceful sentimentality in the melodies. It is a really unusual mix, and the album is worth one's money or time for these alone, in addition to the fact that it exposes some excellent young Baroque players in lively, sparkling performances.© James Manheim /TiVo

The Philadelphia Orchestra has been named "Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2020".

One of Antonio Vivaldi’s undisputed masterpieces—alongside the famous Quattro Stagioni—L’Estro armonico, a set of 12 concertos for stringed instruments, caused a real stir when it was first published in Amsterdam in 1711. Vivaldi’s creation fascinated many composers, beginning with Johann Sebastian Bach who decided to transcribe several of these concertos for keyboard during his time in Weimar. He explored Italian musical inclinations in great detail, and his personal work often reflects the perfect assimilation of Italian-style virtuosity and the melodic art typical of the musicians from the peninsula (Corelli, Vivaldi, Marcello, Torelli, etc.).In this magnificent double album, Rinaldo Alessandrini confronts Vivaldi’s original orchestras and Bach’s arrangements. There’s Concerto No. 3 from L’Estro armonico (for solo violin), followed by the version for keyboard (BWV 978)—in this case a solo harpsichord—and Concerto No. 10 from Vivaldi’s Opus 3, followed by its famous elaboration for four keyboards (BWV 1065). Of course, it’s fascinating to compare the originals with Bach’s versions; the German composer will often enrich the polyphonic texture or change the melodic contours. Vivaldi, on the other hand, displays melodic genius and great instrumental imagination, as well as an innate ability to create an incredible ambience. It’s nothing short of enchanting: no wonder his work left the whole of Europe stunned.The orchestral versions of Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto italiano can only be described as prodigious. They display such finesse and flexibility (and a beautiful instrumental reach too!). Their textures are silky, their rhythm poised and perfectly formed (right from Concerto No.1, which opens the collection). Bach’s versions take a backseat here, despite the outstanding performances given by Rinaldo Alessandrini on harpsichord and Lorenzo Ghielmi on the organ, which are a real treat for the ears. The star of the show is Vivaldi. With this release, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano provide one of the most beautiful and formidably joyful interpretations of L’Estro armonico. It’s simply unmissable! © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

The new delivery of the complete works for keyboard of Johann Sebastian Bach (Volume 8), brought to us by harmonia mundi, and featuring Benjamin Alard on the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ, is centred around the composer’s work while he was with his first wife, Maria Barbara. Featuring 3 CDs, or 85 tracks in this digital version, it brings together a series of compositions for educational purposes. On the one hand the Inventions and Sinfonias, on which all apprentice pianists and harpsichordists have tried their hand, and, on the other hand, the six French Suites probably composed to perfect the musical skills of their eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.They are “French” only in virtue of the apocryphal title which was given to them after Bach’s death. We find no trace of this mentioned on the original manuscripts. Bach's music also escapes strict classification, even if the influence of Couperin can be quite clearly perceived in this vast corpus, demonstrated by Benjamin Alard’s clever introduction of some Preludes by the French composer as an epigraph to the French Suites of Bach. Above all, these pieces are reminiscent of his own genius, with various influences intended to create a world belonging to the Cantor.Faithful to his organological research, here Benjamin Alard uses a pedal clavichord like that built by the French organ maker, Emile Jobin. The colour of this discreet instrument is simply bewitching. A sort of fruitiness is exuded, the full depth and subtlety of which can be savoured, notably in the Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598 and in the transcription for keyboard of the famous Chaconne - Second Partita, initially composed for the violin. We also like the golden tones of the Couchet harpsichord from 1645, "restored" (modified later) by Blanchet in around 1720. We find the entirety of Benjamin Alard’s skill in this new recording; his science which illuminates complicated polyphony, his clean energy, and his curiosity for fascinating worlds of sound. © François Hudry/Qobuz

After recording J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos to near perfection with the English Concert in 1982, it might seem redundant for Trevor Pinnock to try his hand at them again in this 2007 set with the European Brandenburg Ensemble. Allowing for certain variables of interpretation and execution between the two versions, which should be expected at a remove of 25 years, one can still expect Pinnock to turn in elegant period readings that don't diverge too dramatically from his earlier recordings on Archiv. On this exquisite set, released by Avie -- a label that lets its artists take creative risks that many major labels won't -- Pinnock explores the Brandenburgs with considerable freedom and inventiveness, particularly in adjusting the size of his ensemble according to acoustical needs, and in his employment of musicians from several different countries and performing backgrounds. To the trained ear, these concertos have a slightly darker coloration, due to the tuning at A415, and some experts may detect where the high- or low-tone violones are used in substitution for the standard cello or double bass. Yet to most listeners, these performances won't sound experimental or daring, since the changes are wholly appropriate to the Baroque era, when instrumentation and other practices varied in almost every performance. Yet in terms of expression, this set may seem a little richer, warmer, and a bit more relaxed than its predecessor, and the ensemble's presence is almost palpable in the close-up, highly detailed reproduction. Anyone who already owns the earlier recordings may feel this attempt is "gilding the lily," but Pinnock's second traversal of the Brandenburgs is definitely worth hearing, and is highly recommended to others who need a terrific version, by any standard.© TiVo

Composer Józef Koffler was the first Polish champion of Schoenberg's 12-tone system and a modernist whose work, based on this fascinating transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations for harpsichord, BWV 988, is likely to be worth further investigation. He ran afoul of Stalin's Soviet Union and then, worse, of the Germans when they took over Poland, and he disappeared in the Holocaust. The Goldberg arrangement, composed in 1938, was perhaps intended as something palatable to Soviet conservatives, but it is in no way done by the numbers. For one thing, when Koffler composed the work, the Goldberg Variations were quite new in the public consciousness; they had received their first recording, from harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, just five years earlier. Koffler's version, for a small orchestra of strings and winds, was forgotten and was premiered only in 2019, by many of the forces on this recording: it is extremely artfully done. Koffler deploys his ensemble, generally speaking, in three different ways: with the strings taking Bach's melody line, with wind-and-strings atomization of the melody, and with counterpoint mainly in the winds. He is inspired by the broadly tripartite structure of the variations, with canons mostly making up every third variation, but he departs from this where Bach does, and the entire set retains the unity and growth of the original, with complexity and expressivity growing as if inevitably as the music proceeds. The work would make an ideal complement in concert to Anton Webern's arrangement of the fugue from Bach's Musical Offering, BWV 1079. Historical performance veteran Trevor Pinnock leads a mixed ensemble of young musicians, consisting of members of the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble and students at the Glenn Gould School in Canada, and they play with precision and a fine edge. The Linn label delivers superbly detailed sound from the Britten Studio in Snape Maltings, UK, and the album graphics, showing a Chagall-like shtetl painting by the similarly doomed artist Chara Kowalska, are haunting. A unique release, fully deserving of the commercial success it has received.© TiVo

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)

Infinite Bach (or, if one prefers the stylization here, InfInIte Bach) is released as a solo cello album, recorded during the COVID-10 pandemic by Maya Beiser in her farmhouse in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. However, Beiser really had a creative partner, producer Dave Cook, who edited and mixed the sessions at a studio in upstate New York. Beiser says that she was inspired by Alvin Lucier's 1969 work I Am Sitting in a Room, that "I began to imagine making the Suites and this room speak to each other and inform the project of recording Bach's work." Thus, Cook's mixing emphasizes harmonics and drones that were, in a sense, a part of the music. Sometimes the music sounds as it usually does, but more resonant; in other passages, there are overtones or an octave drone. Beiser is best known for her collaborations with contemporary composers, among them Philip Glass, and to an extent, this is what one might expect from an artist who has long been concerned with the qualities of musical surfaces. In other ways, the concept is original and will appeal to those interested in modern techniques of presenting traditional material, as well as to contemporary remixers and samplers. © James Manheim /TiVo

Even at a very young age (he was 22 when this album was released in 2014), British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor had the kind of sound that makes his compatriots roll over and put their paws in the air. It's understated, dry, humorous, and technically unimpeachable. On an album of dances, will some listeners want more oomph in, say, the Chopin Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22? Sure, but on his own terms Grosvenor is indeed impressive, and not just for his age. The opening Bach Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828, is questionable in several ways; the interpretation seems capricious, and, even if you could explain connections conceptually, the work does not feel like it connects to the rest of the program. From there, however, things improve. The smaller works, most of all the Eight valses poéticos of Granados, are marvelously suited to Grosvenor's approach, and the usually splashy Arabesques on Johann Strauss' "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" are brought under control in a delightful way. The Boogie-Woogie Etude of Morton Gould is another effort that may be more satisfying within the U.K. than elsewhere, but for those looking for a savior of British music, Benjamin Grosvenor certainly bears watching.© TiVo