Bachanalia

A fellow pyrate asked this Bachhead to make a list of the best Bach records, so I hope to make this a Changstar effort.
I included some notes for beginners.

My favorites—in approximate order of accessibility:

Brandenburg Concerti. Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra.

Violin Concerti. Anne-Sophie Mutter with Salvatore Accardo, English Chamber Orchestra.

Keyboard Concerti. Bach’s keyboard works can be played on any keyboard instrument, but are usually played on piano or harpsichord.
Piano Concerti. Glenn Gould, various orchestras. Distant runner up: Andras Schiff, Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Harpsichord Concerti. Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert [emsemble].

Great Organ Favorites. E. Power Biggs. I listen to the “Little Fugue” on repeat every morning on the drive to work to help me wake up and concentrate. I’ve gone through phases of listening to some of these pieces on repeat; it becomes hypnotic.

Italian Concerto, French Overture, Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue. Christophe Rousset (harpsichord).

Goldberg Variations. Glenn Gould. 1954 & 1981. Gould made two studio recordings. I prefer the later one in the digital version, but try the early one to find out what all the fuss was about. Distant runner up: Andras Schiff. At least he’s doing his own thing.

Organ Concerti. Simon Preston. DG. These are solo organ works in three movements; not well-known but I think they’re fun. My favorite is the A minor concerto, which is actually a transcription of Vivaldi’s Op. 3/8. It’s interesting to compare Bach’s version to the original to see just how much greater a composer Bach was.

Inventions and Sinfonias a.k.a. Two- and Three-Part Inventions. Glenn Gould. Pedagogical devices in every key. Some are kind of boring, but they always clear my mind.

B-Minor Mass. Karl Richter, Munich Bach Orchestra. Deeply moving—and long.

Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I & II. Glenn Gould. 24 preludes and 24 fugues in every key. “The Old Testament” to Beethoven’s “New Testament.” Frequently academic, but contains several perfect and near perfect fugues. Considerably less accessible than the Inventions and Sinfonias. Distant runner up: Andras Schiff. Masaaki Suzuki (harpsichord version).

The Art of Fugue. Technical counterpoint. We don’t know what instrument(s) Bach had in mind. Probably Bach’s least accessible work, but also my favorite. Glenn Gould (organ this time, not piano), Julliard String Quartet (strings). Note: I prefer less integrated, more individualistic string ensembles such as Cleveland, Quartetto Italiano, and Julliard. For the other approach to the string version, try the Emerson Quartet.

My unfavorites or antifavorites—in approximate order of accessibility:

Orchestral Suites. Neville Mariner, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. All these short stylized period dances bore me as music. Popular though.

English Suites, French Suites, Partitas. Glenn Gould. Lots o’ dances.

Violin Sonatas & Partitas. Jascha Heifetz. Dances again. I don’t like solo violin but I can at least tolerate this version.

Cantatas. Karl Richter. I dislike them because they’re choral music in German.

Cello Suites. Effin’ dances. I dislike solo cello even more than solo violin. It makes me fall asleep so I can’t even say what’s good. The canonical version is Pablo Casals’, but go for a more modern version. See: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,705.0.html.

These are just my favorites and unfavorites. What are some of yours?

 

Original post by Byrnie

Brandenburg Concerti. Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra.

The above is great! I've been listening to it on Spotify today while I'm working. I have the CD at home but haven't had the time to rip it to FLAC. Thank you, Claritas for the suggestions/advice!

 

Glad you like it. Everyone has a favorite and one they just find boring and never listen to. Two and four are the most popular.

My favorite moment is the two violins playing off each other in the Adagio of no. 1. It's reminiscent of Bach's moving double violin concerto.

Here's a fun piece:

 

Quote from: Claritas on November 11, 2014, 01:25:16 AM
B-Minor Mass. Karl Richter, Munich Bach Orchestra. Deeply moving—and long.

That's what she said.

 

Quote from: LFF on November 15, 2014, 08:24:18 AM
That's what she said.
That's why it's less immediately accessible. (Is that a Mass in your pocket?)

So Mozartean, which Bach records do you like?

 

I like the humming: it increases the sense of his presence.

A friend called me up and said, "You know those Bach discs you recommended? Let me ask you something: Does this guy hum or something? I'm hearing some sort of noise, and I think it might be coming from the speakers. I've looked all around the house--"

"Yeah, he hums."

"Oh, thank God! I thought might be going crazy."

 

The best Chromatic fantasy/fugue AND French Overture I've heard is by pianist Andrew Rangell, but it is quite a bit different than Gould, it's a much different approach.

 

More posts in original thread if the original posters wish to post them.

 

hello,

as posted on Chang, requesting a survey review of recordings of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier. if there was something akin to the Four Seasons thread, it would rock my world at least.

 

hello,

@MoatsArt WOW! thanks very much!

 

I love Bach's Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29. This performance is really fun to watch; the performer, Diane Bish, reminds me of a Saturday Night Live church chat skit, but that just makes her that much more of a surprise. She's extremely well trained:

 

Roel Dieltiens + Bach + Cello Suites = good music. The Youtube link is the 1991 recording, pretty okay but tame.



His 2010 second recording made me really appreciate the Cello Suites. I have to buy that set again (gave the first set to a friend). Much recommended as he dares to surprise you here and there without Yo Yo Ma excesses and while having a distinct style.

 

For all the major choral works (St. Matthew, St. John, and B Minor Mass), it's hard to beat the Dunedin Consort.

Münchener Bach-Orchester/Richter for the Brandenburgs.

Freiburg Barockorchester for the orchestral suites.

Until Esfahani gets around to recording WTC, I can happily live with Angela Hewitt's 2009 recording.

My least favorite Bach recording (and it pains me to say this, because everything else the guy has ever done is awesome): Chirs Thile playing the solo violin Sonatas and Partitas on mandolin.