Making their first appearance on BIS, Margaret Batjer and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) cross great distances in both time and space in this programme of concertante violin works. The disc opens with a Violin Concerto by the American composer Pierre Jalbert (b. 1967), whose music has been described as ‘rich in instrumental color and harmonically engaging’. Composed in 2017, the 26-minute concerto was a commission from the orchestra and here makes its first recorded appearance. The next work takes us to 18th-century Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach had been busy studying the concertos of his Italian colleagues, and especially Vivaldi. His Concerto in A minor is thought to have been composed around 1730, at a time when Bach had freed himself from his models, producing works richer in both texture and sentiment. For the second half of the programme we return to our own time, travelling northwards to the Baltic countries, as Bach is followed by one of his great admirers in modern music, the Estonian composer Arvo Part (b. 1935). Margaret Batjer and the orchestra offer us their performance of what is probably Part’s most famous piece, Fratres from 1977. Originally written for chamber ensemble ‘without fixed instrumentation’, it soon became a modern classic and exists in numerous versions. The one heard here, for violin, string orchestra and percussion, was made by the composer in 1992. The closing Lonely Angel is by Part’s slightly younger colleague Peteris Vasks (b. 1946) from Latvia. Reworked from a movement for string quartet, the piece was inspired by a particular image: ‘I saw an angel, flying over the world; the angel looks at the world’s condition with grieving eyes, but an almost imperceptible, loving touch of the angel’s wings brings comfort…’

Johann Sebastian Bach composed timeless music for solo instruments and invented his own musical worlds for violin, violoncello, flute – wonderful, pure architectural beauty. For his GENUIN album, the saxophonist Arno Bornkamp has arranged solo sonatas by Bach, choosing a different register for each work by using the baritone, soprano and alto saxophones. The symbiosis between instrument and music seems ideal, and, guided by the principles of historical performance practice, the co-founder of the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet plays with great ease and flow. Classical saxophonist Arno Bornkamp is a unique figure in both the saxophone world and the Classical music world in general. In his career, now spanning nearly 40 years, he has amazed the music world of his energetic and stylish interpretations, full of lyricism and passion. He believes in the saxophone as an instrument with an infinite amount of nuance and colors, reflecting the human soul with all its shadings of light and dark. Bornkamp is a natural storyteller on his instrument, and offers a highly personal take in his interpretations of all the music he plays.

Jillon Stoppels Dupree's love of the music of J.S. Bach began when she was a youngster in a children's chorus. This love has continued to this day, and it is evident in these beautiful performances. Described as “one of the most outstanding early musicians in North America” (IONARTS) and “a baroque star” (Seattle Times), harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree has captivated audiences in cities ranging from London to Amsterdam to New York. Her world premiere recording of Philip Glass’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra (heralded as “superb” by the New York Times) was released to high acclaim in fall of 2006 on the Orange Mountain Music label. Her playing can also be heard on the Meridian, Wild Boar, Decca and Delos record labels; and she has appeared live on BBC England, Polish National Television, CBS Television and National Public Radio.

Throughout his life, Johann Sebastian Bach arranged and parodied his own and other composers' works. This openness to the practice of transcription, which has been demonstrated in so many ways, encourages the composer to venture into new instrumentations even in modern times. This is what the baroque violinist Annegret Siedel and the organist Ute Gremmel-Geuchen practice here with great joy in experimentation. Particularly exciting are, for example, the famous Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 in the presumed original version for violin solo as well as organ arrangements of some individual movements of the choral motet Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227. Of course, both also play together, for example in the Trio Sonata in E minor BWV 528.

The violinist Amandine Beyer interprets Bach’s famous Sonatas and Partitas, veritable bravura pieces that push back the limits of the instrument, at the intersection between the German solo tradition and the Italian concerto. After the success of the Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and White collections (a total of sixty reissues) which gave a new lease of life to the pearls of the Baroque catalogues from our house labels, here are fourteen new titles which offer a chance to discover other treasures, whether Baroque or dating from an earlier or later era. Like the most recent series, this sixth instalment opens out onto the Classical repertory (Mozart by Ensemble 415 and Chiara Banchini) and the Renaissance (Févin by Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre); recordings that are an integral part of Alpha’s identity and history. Fourteen reissues performed by the leading musicians in the field, most of which received one or more awards on their original release. Proper booklets accompany the discs, with notes in three languages (French, English, German). Photographers from all over the world have been selected to illustrate the covers, this time with the guiding thread of the color green, a symbol of nature, fertility...and hope!

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Trio Sonatas for organ, masterpieces in their intrinsic poetic power, were composed between 1723 and 1725, in his early days as Kantor in Leipzig. They are performed here by Benjamin Alard, First Prize winner in the organ section of the Freiburg Bach Competition. After the success of the Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and White collections (a total of sixty reissues) which gave a new lease of life to the pearls of the Baroque catalogues from our house labels, here are fourteen new titles which offer a chance to discover other treasures, whether Baroque or dating from an earlier or later era. Like the most recent series, this sixth instalment opens out onto the Classical repertory (Mozart by Ensemble 415 and Chiara Banchini) and the Renaissance (Févin by Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre); recordings that are an integral part of Alpha’s identity and history. Fourteen reissues performed by the leading musicians in the field, most of which received one or more awards on their original release. Proper booklets accompany the discs, with notes in three languages (French, English, German). Photographers from all over the world have been selected to illustrate the covers, this time with the guiding thread of the color green, a symbol of nature, fertility...and hope!

David Goode performs the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach on the renowned Metzler Söhne organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, in a new a set spanning 16 albums and over 17 hours and 40 minutes of music. Covering the multiplicity of genres and stylistic influences that typified Bach’s organ music, the set includes complete recordings of the Chorale preludes, the six Sonatas, and the many preludes, toccatas, fugues, fantasias, chorales and partitas. The accompanying 136-page booklet includes background information on each work by organist George Parsons, along with an introduction to the set by David Goode. As well as a tracklisting, the booklet includes indexes to the works by BWV number and alphabetical order. “This series is notable for the flair, clarity and spontaneity that Goode brings to this timeless music” (Gramophone)

REVIEW

This cycle of Bach's Complete Organ Works occupied David Goode between January 2015 and August 2016 and was originally issued as separate volumes, but now Signum Classics have released them as a 16 CD set. Centre stage is the magnificent Metzler organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, which ranks as one of the finest in the UK. The Signum engineers have done a sterling job with the sound quality. The cycle certainly stands shoulder to shoulder with some of my favorite traversals, including those by Christopher Herrick, Peter Hurford, Lionel Rogg and André Isoir.

--MusicWeb International

Johann Sebastian Bach was only known to have travelled north. His meetings with the organists and composers Georg Böhm (Lüneburg) and Johann Adam Reinken (Hamburg) must have left a lasting mark on him. When he stayed in Lübeck to study the organ art of Dietrich Buxtehude, he of course wanted to visit the organs in the town churches as well, and so we can take it for sure that he also got to know the instruments at St. Jakobi.What was it about Northern German music that fascinated Bach? In contrast to his Thuringian home, Hamburg, Lübeck and many other cities in the north of Germany developed a culture of organ music. In toccatas and preludes, a stylus phantasticus unfolded, and the organ builders Scherer, Stellwagen and Schnitger with their pedal works created the opportunity to lend the bass fundamental its own splendid sound. Also, in the genre of organ chorales, Franz Tunder and Dietrich Buxtehude from Lübeck had developed new expansive forms leading to long chorale fantasies – a special source of inspiration for Bach. The release at hand offers a collection of Bach’s organ works with influences from Northern Germany. Arvid Gast plays both historical organs at St. Jakobi Lübeck: the three-manual Stellwagen Organ built in 1637 and the four-manual Great Organ where in the current disposition many historical stops from the 16th and 17th centuries are included.

It is a well-known story: The hero Hercules (Greek: Herakles) is walking in the Cithaeron mountains when he suddenly encounters two female figures at a fork in the path, Voluptas (Pleasure) and Virtus (Virtue). Both attempt to win the young demigod for themselves. At the end of their courtship, Hercules joins with virtue and dedicates himself to her ideals. The virtue aspect of this story from ancient mythology also made it a popular subject in the Christian world. In this way, on 5 September 1733 in Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach performed his Dramma per musica “Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen” BWV 213 for the eleventh birthday of the Saxon crown prince Friedrich Christian with his Collegium musicum. In summer 1750, 17 years after Bach and directly before his last trip to Germany, George Frideric Handel worked with the subject in London – the result being “The Choice of Hercules” HWV 69.Handel and Bach were born around four weeks apart and 150 km apart from one another in distance, but they never encountered one another in person. By linking both “Hercules” works to a pasticcio (pastiche), we have now created a virtual encounter between the two composers for today’s listeners. The pasticcio practice was a popular method in Bach and Handel’s time, particularly in opera, to bring together various pieces of music, preferably also from several composers, to create a new work. The fact that several languages were sung during a performance did not undermine its effect and popularity. In Clemens Flämig’s “Hercules” pasticcio too, there are English texts alongside German ones. The result can be heard on the double album at hand which was released within the series “haendeliana hallensis”.

Dance is the new album from pianist Stephen Beus. “Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage” (Salt Lake Tribune). In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis). As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.

This album is the musical calling card of a brilliant ensemble that has set itself the goal of making baroque music accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. Presented as a homage to one of the most important German baroque composers the Bremen Baroque Orchestra under it's artistic director Néstor Fabián Cortés Garzón it's debut album with works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach's works in particular give the ensemble the opportunity to demonstrate the orchestra's creative and avant-garde spirit. An inquiring and innovative spirit aiming to incorporate the latest knowledge and explore new ways of interpretation.

John Rutter writes: “Revisiting this 1993 Cambridge Singers recording, I realize I should never have withdrawn it from the Collegium catalogue – and all because of an obscure musicological question in my mind over a Gregorian chant, long since resolved. We assembled a stellar team of forty voices, offering a sumptuous programme of music for multiple choirs, with the dazzling Tallis 40-part motet as the centerpiece. Allegri’s Miserere, now a firmer audience favorite than ever, and the most magnificent of Bach’s six motets, Singet dem Herrn, are among the other choral masterpieces featured on an album that truly is a banquet of voices. For the first time, modern digital sound restoration has allowed the music to be heard in its full sonic splendor, and we are confident the album will once again take its place in the treasured family of Cambridge Singers recordings.”

Presenting four masterworks for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, Jory Vinikour performs on a harpsichord modeled after German harpsichords of Bach’s time, notably Silbermann. Speaking with richness and clarity, this harpsichord was built by Tom and Barbara Wolf. The Italian Concerto and the French Overture, both published by Bach in the 2nd volume of his Clavier Übung, are paired with two other great works - the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, as well as the concerto-like Prelude and Fugue in a minor.

Two-time GRAMMY Award nominated harpsichordist Jory Vinikour is recognized as one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. A highly diversified career brings him to the world’s most important festivals and concert halls as recital and concerto soloist, and partner to several of today’s finest artists. Born in Chicago, Jory Vinikour studied in Paris with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert on a Fulbright scholarship. First Prizes in the International Harpsichord Competitions of Warsaw (1993) and the Prague Spring Festival (1994) brought him to the public’s attention, and he has since appeared in festivals and concert series throughout much of the world. In 2019, Jory made his debut at the Ravinia Festival, playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. At the Aspen Festival, he conducted Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos.

REVIEW:

There is no doubting the brightness and breeziness of the Italian Concerto's opening Allegro, but what is most impressive is Vinikour’s ability to create a convincing Adagio. The left-hand here can so easily sound awkward, but Vinikour constructs instead a rhythmic bedrock against which the right hand can sing. And sing it does: This is “harpsichord vocalisation” of the type I have rarely encountered, and with a finale that not only glows with life but has a raft of insights. This is wonderful, sometimes even great, Bach playing. 

– Fanfare

The history of the organ stretches back to the ancient world. Until medieval times organ instruments have been considered as secular and were used to accompany songs and dances. Around 600-700 years ago the first organs appeared in churches, probably used for supporting and accompanying liturgical chants. In the 16th and 17th century organ building started a sudden high-speed development. New materials, many stops, smooth-running tracker actions and a capable and stable wind supply opened new horizons. For the first time organs could tonally fill large church rooms, accompany the congregational singing and made virtuoso artistic playing possible. Many famous composers started writing sophisticated works of music for organ. This box is dedicated to this great time.