Bach revised his St. John Passion time and again - indeed making it one of his most enigmatic and fascinating compositions. On the 300th anniversary of it's world premiere, MDG is reissuing the highly acclaimed recording for the first time in full three-dimensional sound on Super Audio CD for the PREZIOSA series.

The most comprehensive tribute ever issued on record to the art of the Italian pianist Sergio Fiorentino. Many recordings here newly remastered and receiving their first-ever issue in the digital age. A landmark set for pianophiles. This set has been curated by the collector Ernst Lumpe, who contributes a lengthy appreciation and introduction to the booklet of the set, alongside an essay by Christoph Schluren & Ottavia Maria Maceratini. It was Lumpe who drew the pianist out of retirement during the 1990s, resulting in an 'Indian Summer' of recordings made in Berlin until not long before the pianist's death in 1998. They are reissued here, alongside much less familiar solo and concerto recordings from the 1950s and 60s - 'The Early Recordings' - and separate sections dedicated to Fiorentino's particular, free-wheeling mastery of Chopin and Liszt. Many of the early recordings were made in the UK for the Concert Artist label under the supervision of Willliam Barrington-Coupe, and some of them issued under pseudonyms (though not attributed to his wife Joyce Hatto, at least not at the time). In 1954 he recorded Mozart's Concerto K467 in Naples; the repertoire from those years otherwise focuses on richly sonorous interpretations of German repertoire, from Bach (and Bach/Busoni) onwards, through Beethoven, into fantastically inventive Schumann and Brahms. Around this time too, however, he recorded several major Chopin collections: the Ballades, Etudes, Polonaises, Scherzos and Waltzes. The sources for all these recordings vary between master tapes (occasionally), and more often the best available LP copies, often of releases issued in very limited quantities, and in compromised engineering, but the artistic value of the performances speaks for itself. Lumpe remarks of his as 'a real aristocrat' of the piano and quotes several of his pupils, who recall a musician without ego, demanding and quietly aware of his own abilities but modest and disinclined to self-promotion or fits of artistic temperament. Alongside some revisiting of this repertoire, late in life in Berlin, Fiorentino turned to Russian repertoire: Prokofiev, Scriabin and especially Rachmaninoff, whom he had always venerated as the supreme pianist. If this set bears witness to anything, it is Fiorentino's place in the canon as one of Rachmaninoff's few worthy successors. - "He is the only other pianist", said the legendary Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli of Sergio Fiorentino. How is it that one of the greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century is still so unknown? - Sergio Fiorentino (1927-1998) was a remarkable Italian pianist whose career combined exceptional artistry with a quiet, almost enigmatic presence in the music world. Born in Naples, Fiorentino exhibited prodigious talent from an early age, studying at the prestigious San Pietro a Majella Conservatory under the guidance of Alfredo Casella and Paolo Denza. His early successes included significant competition wins and promising concert debuts, establishing him as a rising star in the mid-20th-century classical music scene. - However, Fiorentino's trajectory took a dramatic turn following a plane crash in 1954, which left him physically and emotionally scarred. While he resumed performing, his public appearances became sporadic, and he withdrew from the international stage. - Fiorentino's recordings, which gained broader recognition later in his life, reveal a pianist of extraordinary depth, technical mastery, and interpretive insight. Known for his affinity for composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, Fiorentino's playing was marked by it's clarity, emotional intensity, and lack of ostentation. His interpretations were thoughtful, eschewing showmanship in favor of profound musical communication. - In the 1990s, Fiorentino returned to a more active recording schedule, earning belated acclaim as a cult figure among pianophiles. Tragically, his life was cut short in 1998, but his legacy endures through a treasure trove of recordings that continue to inspire listeners, cementing his status as one of the 20th century's most distinctive pianists. - This set brings together the major part of Fiorentino's recordings, spanning from the 1950-ties to the Berlin studio recordings made in the early 1990-ties. Some of the (Live) recordings inevitably show their provenance and technical deficiencies, but everywhere there shines the unbelievable musical force of one of the greatest pianists of the 20-th century.

Second disc of the great accordionist Philippe Thuriot on Challenge Classics. After arrangements of Scarlatti Sonatas (CC 72994), Philippe plunges in a more daring project: improvisations on Bach's music. The result is amazing for the imagination, inventiveness and inspiration - while always remaining in the domain of the respect and love to Bach's music. A disc you listen with constant curiosity, pleasure and interest from start to the end.

Inspired by the power and clarity of an extraordinary instrument handcrafted by a legendary guitarrero from Granada, guitar virtuoso Stephen Marchionda presents his very own personal versions of Bach's Sonata in A Minor and the Suite in E Major; and together with the Lute Suite BWV 997 he has created an album that masterfully combines polyphonic intimacy with sonorous opulence.

Pianist Luisa Imorde, deeply inspired by Brahms, presents an album of his works, contextualizing his music with pieces that influenced him, like those by Bach and other Baroque composers. Through her sensible and virtuosic playing she engages with musical traditions, creating a dialogue between compositions and earlier works, just like Brahms had done before her.

San Francisco-based Cantata Collective continues it's exploration of J.S. Bach's major choral masterworks with a third in the ongoing series, pairing the composer's Easter Oratorio and Magnificat. Released in time for Holy Week, both works are lavishly scored and feature some of Bach's most festive and popular vocal writing. With celebrated baroque music specialist Nicholas McGegan on the podium, and a roll call of today's finest early music vocal soloists, this release is poised to build on the auspicious previous releases - a "bold and beautifully constructed" St. John Passion (BBC Radio 3 Record Review), and "an exemplary performance" of the Mass in B Minor (American Record Guide).

Aaron Pilsan completes his recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, five years after the first volume was praised by critics for it's ardent, accurate and fluid interpretation. Twenty years lie between the two volumes; whilst the first is better known, 'the second book is more playful, but also more accomplished. It goes further harmonically and also demonstrates extraordinary harmonic invention with original and often exotic harmonies. The best example of what differentiates the two books is the fugue in D sharp minor in the second book, a piece whose boldness and harmonic originality never ceases to enthral and astonish me,' says the Austrian pianist, who again demonstrates his fascination for the composer: 'What I love most about Bach's music is that he expresses everything that goes to make up our lives, but in perfect order.'

Following his recording of the first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier released last year (BIS-2621), which was praised as 'a pleasurable benchmark for anyone seeking a traversal that honours every detail of the music' (Gramophone), harpsichordist Masato Suzuki now offers us his interpretation of the second book of Bach's masterly cycle of preludes and fugues. No other works from the baroque period have been as cherished, performed and studied as these collections, the objectives of which were musical, theoretical and didactic. Like the first, the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier features a prelude and fugue in each of the 12 semitones of the chromatic scale, covering all of the 24 major and minor modes. Produced almost twenty years after the first book, this collection is a sort of follow-up. Though less frequently heard than it's predecessor, it nevertheless contains pieces of great beauty covering a wide stylistic range, and demonstrates a mastery of counterpoint that never outweighs emotion, beauty and aesthetics. Occupying a key position in Bach's output, the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier points ahead to the major cycles of Bach's last years and presents 'sheer masterpieces from beginning to end', to quote Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the composer's first biographer.

Yasunori Imamura presents the second instalment of Bach's Cello Suites arranged for theorbo (Volume 1 is available on 8.574617). The theorbo is the most important plucked instrument in the lute family, with a range very similar to the cello. Certain technical elements, such as the playing of arpeggios are, in fact, easier on the theorbo whose unique timbres bring a new sonic quality to the performances heard here. These elements are most evident in Suite No. 6, composed for a cello with five strings, but which sounds totally idiomatic when played on the theorbo.

If Bach had written only the Mass in B minor, he would be considered the leading composer of sacred music in the Baroque period. Composed between 1733 and 1749, on the eve of his death, this Great Mass is a musical testament for posterity: the most accomplished synthesis of the aesthetics that Bach mastered to perfection, but also an anthology of his sacred work, with it's perfectly mastered architecture. John Eliot Gardiner delivers a sensitive reading of this pinnacle of Western music, which he has frequented for half a century, with irresistible energy and compelling beauty. The Monteverdi Choir, undoubtedly the best choir in the world, delivers an extraordinary musical performance. This exceptional moment, filmed in the Chapelle Royale at the Ch�teau de Versailles, sumptuously captures the majesty of this masterpiece of sacred art.

On this double album, acclaimed violinist James Ehnes joins forces with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, an ensemble he's had a friendship and artistic partnership with for more than three decades, to fulfil his longtime goal of recording Johann Sebastian Bach's complete violin concertos. Bach's masterful writing for violin is highlighted through several styles and instrumental combinations. This landmark recording showcases James Ehnes's affinity for Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra and his deep connection to Bach's legacy.

The centerpiece of the Bach collection is a 2015 recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier, the so- called old testament of piano music, a series of 48 preludes and fugues in all of the piano's possible keys. A look at that monumental collection's recorded history could serve as a compendium of piano performance styles through the last 120 years. Unsurprisingly, Biret conforms to none, and perhaps the best way to describe her interpretations is orchestral. As the historically informed Baroque practitioners prescribe, each prelude and fugue certainly has a distinct character, but those long lines emerge with the definition of strings, brass or winds, lush and strident by turn. Trills are mellow and exquisitely shaped, and a wealth of detail is present but never exaggerated. Biret's Bach is a cliff wall to be scaled, a peak to be reached and an aspiration to be achieved.

Though naturally closely associated with the organ and harpsichord, Bach had a special relationship with the violin, his father's instrument, throughout his life. Moreover, we know that he was a highly skilled player, performing regularly at the court of Weimar, and probably also at Kothen and Leipzig. He wrote and transcribed concertos and sonatas for violin, but above all created the unprecedented collection of Sonatas and Partitas for solo instrument. And it is precisely for this vehicle of pure virtuosity that Marco Serino's new project offers four masterpieces, only one of which - the Partita No. 2, the most ambitious work in the group - has survived in a version for violin. Both the first two Suites for cello and the Toccata and Fugue BWV 565, however, already boast an important tradition of violin transcriptions. Pervaded by the virtual polyphony so characteristic of the celebrated Sei solo, these extraordinary pieces, which are presented from a different perspective than usual, celebrate this art of transformation pursued by the artists of the Baroque as an ideal of continuous and fruitful metamorphosis.

The young organist Mona Hartmann (*1994) is currently enjoying a stellar career and has already won numerous national and international competitions. For Chaconne 1927, the musician chose the Walcker organ built in 1927 in St. Antonius in Papenburg. The form of the chaconne runs through the entire album as a leitmotif: It's principle of variation, like that of the passacaglia, allows the Walcker organ with it's 89 stops to be presented in countless, ever-changing sound combinations like no other genre.

Johann Sebastian Bach's stature as a composer of extraordinary talent and widespread influence is so firmly established in Western culture that it is difficult to believe that only 150 years ago his works lay in veritable obscurity, unknown to all but a small group of scholars. It is largely thanks to ohn, who essentially effected a revival of the composer's music through his rediscovery and promulgation of the St Matthew Passion, besides other pieces, that his works are today regarded as pinnacles of music expression. That they are among the most performed and widely attended is in no doubt; in Holland alone, thousands of singers and musicians are involved in dozens of performances of the St Matthew Passion in Holy Week, with hundreds of thousands listening in churches and concert halls, or gathered around the radio, to what has been described as 'the Gospel according to Bach'. Bringing together all of his works, this dynamic 142-CD set offers a resounding impression of this great spirit of our Western culture, presenting dynamic performances - many period-based, many acclaimed by the international press - that are divided according to genre, thus making for a highly user-friendly compendium. The set draws on all periods of his career, tracing the development of a style that was much influenced by contemporary and past fashions but which was always adapted to Bach's own purpose, often far surpassing the models on which he drew. The German composer travelled a great deal from city to city, and the different circumstances of his various positions are reflected in the great range of works comprising his output: while his early years are dominated by much keyboard music, on account of the numerous organist posts he held during this period, later positions at various courts accorded him more personal and artistic freedom - in Cothen, for example, Prince Leopold's passion for music-making and his renowned resident orchestra resulted in a string of unforgettable works including the Brandenburg Concertos, the Solo Cello Suites and the Well-Tempered Clavier Part 1, beside many others. Bach was a master of all genres, whether sacred, secular, instrumental or vocal, and his oeuvre is a rich mixture of severe Baroque craftsmanship and expressive Romanticism. Thomas Zehetmair, Kristof Barati, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Rene Jacobs, Peter Schreier and Lucia Popp are just a handful of the first-class performers and ensembles gracing this set. At the bargain price of �100, it is a collection not to be passed up. Other information: - 142 CDs representing the entirety of Johann Sebastian Bach's oeuvre in historically informed performances. This includes all 200 sacred cantatas recorded for Brilliant Classics on period instruments and sung by the Holland Boys Choir. - For reasons of completeness, pure musical enjoyment, scholarly research, attractive, spacesaving design and price, you cannot afford to be without Brilliant Classics' Complete Bach Edition. - Extensive liner notes, sungs texts and complete tracklisting with performers available for download, by clicking on 'Download booklet' below the cover.