The analogy of Baroque music, especially Bach with his intense focus on repeated motivic work, with the minimalists has been made before, and it is not entirely convincing. The resemblance is vivid enough on the surface but is ultimately superficial, for Bach was -- to borrow a word from Milton Babbitt -- a maximalist. What the concept needs is to be bulked up, so to speak, with works that are related both to Bach and the minimalists, and that is what the early music group La Tempète and conductor Simon-Pierre Bestion offer here, with Bach and John Adams' Shaker Loops at the poles. Shaker Loops, the Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052, and the Harpsichord Concerto, Op. 40, of Henryk Górecki, are broken up into individual movements (Bach's concerto is missing its slow movement, too). This is questionable, for Bestion's idea is strong enough to hold up without distorting the source material like this, but it does allow for startling juxtapositions like that of Bach's finale with the second movement of the Górecki. Elsewhere, there are neo-Bachian works by composer Knut Nystedt and the Litanies of Jehan Alain, arranged for harpsichord and orchestra. At times, the program seems close to going off the rails, but one is also left with the feeling that Bestion is on to something original. Stimulating, at the very least.© James Manheim /TiVo

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 Danish String Quartet's Prism V is the last in a series of "Prism" releases, each presenting one of Beethoven's five late string quartets, prefaced by a Bach work that could have been a source for some of Beethoven's thematic material, and followed by a more contemporary work. The idea is a promising one, for Beethoven indisputably made a deep study of Bachian counterpoint in his later years, and several releases in the series have been revelatory. The finale seems to offer an attractive symmetry; the opening Bach work is the Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 ("Vor deinem Thron tret' ich"), which was published with The Art of Fugue and was Bach's last completed composition, and the program proceeds with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's final full piece. The thematic links in this case are a bit hazier than on the other albums, and making the Beethoven quartet sound Bach-inspired takes quite a bit of effort on the players' parts; the rough humor of the work is shoved to the background. This said, the performance of the Beethoven quartet itself is up to the Danish Quartet's usual very high standard; it is an unorthodox but absorbing reading with great control and detail. Anton Webern's youthful and ultra-Romantic String Quartet of 1905, not often heard, is another attraction here. The program ends with the unfinished final fugue of Bach's The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, breaking off in mid-measure as if to suggest that there is more on the way from this superb group. Admirers of the Danish String Quartet's series will be satisfied with this release, and indeed, they put it on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023. © James Manheim /TiVo

Johann Sebastian Bach has made the reputation of Café Zimmermann ever since the ensemble was formed in 1999. This new recording presents the music of the Kantor from a different angle, that of the notebooks in which musicians wrote down pieces and movements they particularly liked. This recording brings together works composed by Bach in the late 1740s which may be described as intimate in character, including the famous Trio Sonata from his Musical Offering. The Baroque idiom of this "experimental" sonata is contextualised by the innovative style developed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel in one of his own trio sonatas. A number of arias by J. S. Bach are also presented here with exclusively instrumental forces. Under the direction of violinist Pablo Valetti and harpsichordist Céline Frisch, the ensemble even ventures into Mozartian territory with the Aria and Fugue, K. 404a, taken from two pieces by Bach that Mozart himself had annotated and arranged in his own musical notebook. Finally, a chorale that Bach was particularly fond of, a three-part fugue played here by harpsichord and flute. Carl Philipp Emanuel had it printed at the end of his father’s musical testament, The Art of Fugue: "Before thy throne I now appear". © Alpha Classics

The Danish String Quartet's Prism V is the last in a series of "Prism" releases, each presenting one of Beethoven's five late string quartets, prefaced by a Bach work that could have been a source for some of Beethoven's thematic material, and followed by a more contemporary work. The idea is a promising one, for Beethoven indisputably made a deep study of Bachian counterpoint in his later years, and several releases in the series have been revelatory. The finale seems to offer an attractive symmetry; the opening Bach work is the Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 ("Vor deinem Thron tret' ich"), which was published with The Art of Fugue and was Bach's last completed composition, and the program proceeds with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's final full piece. The thematic links in this case are a bit hazier than on the other albums, and making the Beethoven quartet sound Bach-inspired takes quite a bit of effort on the players' parts; the rough humor of the work is shoved to the background. This said, the performance of the Beethoven quartet itself is up to the Danish Quartet's usual very high standard; it is an unorthodox but absorbing reading with great control and detail. Anton Webern's youthful and ultra-Romantic String Quartet of 1905, not often heard, is another attraction here. The program ends with the unfinished final fugue of Bach's The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, breaking off in mid-measure as if to suggest that there is more on the way from this superb group. Admirers of the Danish String Quartet's series will be satisfied with this release, and indeed, they put it on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023. © James Manheim /TiVo

During the time of Johann Sebastian Bach, death was part of everyday life. The ensemble il capriccio and the countertenor Franz Vitzthum offer the Thomaskantor's musical perspective on life and death on this Genuin recording. The texts of the recorded arias and chorale arrangements by Bach deal with death, eternity and the promise of eternal life. The musicians juxtapose the works, some of which have been carefully arranged, with selected sections from The Art of Fugue. The result is an artistic and moving musical tapestry, interpreted by Franz Vitzthum and the ensemble il capriccio with intensity and sensitivity. © Genuin

To say that Christian Thielemann's early March 2020 Gurre-Lieder at the Semperoper Dresden didn't take place a moment too soon is something of an understatement, when less than a fortnight later Europe's international-level live music making scene had been reduced to solo recitals self-filmed on mobile phones and posted onto social media. Equally fortuitously, it was recorded live, meaning we can now all listen to this ambitious project with its international line-up that would, had 2020 turned out differently, have received a second airing the following month at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Broad brushstrokes first, and in orchestral terms there's a wonderful transparency to the sound from the Staatskapelle Dresden bolstered by members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. As for tone colour, think silvery luminosity from the upper strings and woodwind, balanced by warm, rounded richness from the brass and lower strings - it's both luxuriously warm and sharply defined, making for a heavenly Prelude and Zwischenspiel, and full-throttle drama for the conclusion of Part 2. As for the chorus, there's some thrilling singing from the MDR-Rundfunkchor and Staatsopernchor Dresden, and while “Seht die Sonne” would possibly have packed even more of a punch when heard in the hall (they are perhaps slightly further back in the sound than a studio recording might have given us), “Gegrüßt, o König, an Gurre-Seestrand!” is unequivocally edge-of-the-seat stuff. Thielemann's overall architecture is also eminently satisfying, including a notably seamless-feeling transition over the stylistic shift between parts two and three. On to the soloists, and Camilla Nylund's Tove is warm and supple, losing not an iota of its mellow roundedness as she soars up high, with the climax of her “Du sendest mir einen Liebesblick” truly tingle-inducing. Dark-toned Stephen Gould as Waldemar is ardent in love, and especially compelling in despair, always in control of his own high-register leaps. Christa Mayer's Woodtaube is rich-voiced and passionate, and Kwangchul Youn's Bauer ringing and energetic. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke makes for a colourful and enjoyably semi- raucous Klaus-Narr; and while Franz Grundheber may no longer be in his baritone prime, his voice is deliciously expressive and multicoloured in his sprechstimme Speaker role, and with a flexibility and strength thoroughly belying his eighty-plus years. If this cast ever gets reunited post-Covid then you should beg, borrow or steal a ticket. In the meantime, crank up the volume on this, and revel in it. © Charlotte Gardner/Qobuz

Veteran Dutch historical-instrument specialist Sigiswald Kuijken adopts a version of the one-voice-per-part procedure in this performance of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, using four soloists and another quartet for the "ripieno" or choral passages. Refreshingly, he doesn't even try to claim historical authenticity for this in the interview-format notes, pointing instead to the "extremely natural balance with the instrumental ensemble" and the "textual expressivity his approach permits." He even concedes that for a major performance of this work, Bach would likely have had larger forces available. If you believe that the contrast between German Lutheran chorus and Italianate melody lies at the heart of Bach's appeal, forming a richness unparalleled since Albrecht Dürer infused Italian color into the severe German figures of his paintings, then look elsewhere. For the adherent of Kuijken's approach, however, this St. John Passion merits consideration, as much for the unexpected instrumental details emerging from Kuijken's La Petite Bande as for the work of the soloists; alto Petra Noskaiová is superb, but the others are a mixed bag. The sound, from Belgium's Academiezaal concert hall, is a major plus. © TiVo

Complete cantatas of the "Französischer Jahrgang", Vol. 1. Another large-scale, incredibly exciting project is dedicated to the world’s very first complete recording of an entire annual cycle with seventy-two church cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann for large ensembles (Frankfurt, 1714-1715). This project directed by Felix Koch is particularly committed to including young soloists chosen by the "Telemann Project" for performances together with proven specialists in the field of Baroque song. All the singers perform in the "Gutenberg Soloists" vocal ensemble consisting of twelve members – in accordance with the Baroque practice in which the solo parts are assumed by members of the choral ensemble. Things get underway with this first volume, which present cantatas from the late summer of 1715 and five additional cantatas for the Lenten season from the cycle known as the "French Annual cycle". A significant reference is found on the original Frankfurt organ part of Telemann’s cantata Gott schweige doch nicht also from this year: "Judica, from the French Annual Cycle". What this means is that the cantata concerned was intended for the Fifth Sunday in Lent; that is, it belonged precisely to the annual cycle of church cantatas that even contemporaries called "French" because of its style. This is music worth discovering – and not only by and for Telemann fans! © CPO

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One of the greatest innovations of Baroque music is undoubtedly the thoroughbass, or basso continuo, of which Bach himself wrote: “Thoroughbass is the entire foundation of music, it is played with both hands, so that the left hand plays the written notes, while the right hand adds consonances and dissonances, creating an agreeable Harmony to the glory of God and to the proper enjoyment of the senses". Because there is basso continuo, the melody can unfold in all its fullness, with that resonant profile that is so characteristic of the Baroque aesthetic. The great majority of the pieces are Preludes, that is to say, they anticipate a continuation: usually a sung chorale, the theme of which is to be found in the Prelude, where it sets the tone for the assembly; these hymns were sung during Lutheran services. And they are lacking because we have concentrated on the instrumental side. Bach and his composing colleagues have made some small contribution to this, by leaving us instrumental works that directly touch the soul and seem to speak for themselves. The pieces on this album are taken principally from two collections of Bach’s works: the third part of the Clavier-Übung and the eighteen great Preludes for organ. Saya Hashino is a virtuosic concert pianist, organist, harpsichordist who brings life to a diverse musical repertoire with finesse and expressivity. Truly versatile and versed in early, chamber, orchestral and contemporary music, she plays her keyboard instruments regularly with highly-acclaimed and established orchestras. Saya is titular organist of Saint-Germain Church in Geneva, where this recording was also made on an impressive 18-stop organ built by the German organ builder Lukas Fischer. © solo musica

The most popular works by Frederick Delius, like Summer Night on the River and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring are orchestral tone poems with a British tinge, seeming to offer a British counterpart to Debussy's Impressionism. Eine Messe des Lebens ("A Mass of Life") has little that is British about it at all unless it be a general commonality of mood with the vast spectaculars written for England's choral festivals. This work has had its champions, including Sir Thomas Beecham, but it has rarely been performed or recorded. The fact that it is in German is one impediment; the work sets texts from Friedrich Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra. Many readers of the day put a grandiose spin on that work; nowadays, it is seen more as lyrical and poetic. The Richard Strauss tone poem based on Also sprach Zarathustra reflects the former view, and so does the Delius work, although it has some almost static mystical passages. There are influences from English choral music, from Wagner, perhaps from Grieg. The work requires a double chorus and a large orchestra; this live performance from Bergen in 2022, with the Bergen Philharmonic, four soloists, and one Norwegian and one English chorus, must have been a logistical challenge. Eine Messe des Lebens (which is in no sense a mass) is something of a beast, but conductor Mark Elder makes a strong case for it. His handling of the large forces is lucid and moves clearly toward goal points, and he balances the choruses, soloists (the principal being baritone Roderick Williams, in fine form), and orchestra well; perhaps the prize should go to the LAWO Classics engineers who kept all these layers clear in a live concert situation. This recording may or may not rescue Eine Messe des Lebens from obscurity, but those interested in Delius, and for that matter in Nietzsche and his reception, should definitely hear it.© James Manheim /TiVo