"One of my colleagues recently expressed his opinion that anyone offering yet another set of the Brandenburg Concertos had better do something new and different...

"One of my colleagues recently expressed his opinion that anyone offering yet another set of the Brandenburg Concertos had better do something new and different with them. I'm sure he'd have said the same thing about the Overtures, if they had been the subject of his review. Reviewers can get to feel that way, as may collectors who stockpile recordings of their favorite pieces, I suppose. As for persons with more modest ambitions, I'm not so sure. If you are buying your first recording of a basic repertoire item, you might be more inclined to get something that isn't new and different. It's like the sign in the library that says “Any book is a new book if you haven't read it.“

Anyway, if I were looking for novelty in the Bach overtures I probably would not look first to Helmuth Rilling. After all, Ruling's magnum opus, his Bach cantata series, is generally regarded as the traditional one, as opposed to the more innovative effort for Teldec by Harnoncourt and Leonhardt. What we expect from Rilling is solid musicianship and a well-coordinated ensemble, and we get both in these scrupulously crafted and splendidly executed modern-instruments performances. Rilling does not favor exaggerated dotting in the French overtures. Ruling's tempos do not drag, nor do they rush. His Air has enough bounce to remove it from the category of syrupy slush, but it will still be recognizable to most traditionalists.

But wait. There is something here to catch the ear. Rilling has his oboes, led by Ingo Goritzki, freely embellish the melody lines in the repeats throughout the four suites. The results are both striking and satisfying; one wonders why this is not standard practice and suspects that it may become just that."

-- George Chien, Fanfare Reviewing original release of this recording, Hänssler 98.978 and 98.984