Pierre-Laurent Aimard, one of today's most visionary pianists, presents the second book of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, a cornerstone of the piano repertoire. Following his acclaimed interpretation of Book I (released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2014), Aimard brings his signature clarity, insight, and depth to this second collection of 24 Preludes and Fugues, exploring Bach's extraordinary harmonic and contrapuntal imagination. With a lifelong dedication to both early and contemporary music, Aimard approaches the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II not merely as a historical masterpiece but as a vibrant and endlessly inventive work. His performance highlights Bach's ability to blend expressive lyricism with intellectual rigor, creating a deeply engaging and illuminating listening experience. A renowned champion of twentieth-century music, Pierre-Laurent Aimard has released multiple acclaimed albums in his exclusive contract with PENTATONE, including Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux (2018) and Visions de l'Amen (2022), along with Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata & Eroica Variations (2021). He also joined Tamara Stefanovich in Etudes and Frames (2023), with music by Vassos Nicolaou, recorded Bartok's Piano Concertos with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen (2023), Schubert: Landler (2024), and Kurtag: Jatekok (2025).

“Concertos Without Orchestra” is the concept of the young Turkish pianist Sa­lih Can Gevrek, Associate Artist at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, for his first CD recording. He presents two mirrored works, both of which are imbued with references to the musical style and structure of concertos with orchestra. J. S. Bach’s famous Italian Concerto is subtly linked to Schumann’s lesser known but equally virtuoso Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 14, also known as the “Concerto without orchestra”. Rachmaninov’s rarely recorded Moments musicaux com­plete this musical panorama to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his death. This recording offers the listener a real voyage through the Baroque, Romantic and post-Romantic periods, drama and poetry expressed in music supply the connection between these three very different works.

For a long time, the fact that three of J.S. Bach's harpsichord concertos are arrangements of earlier violin concertos led scholars to suspect that the remaining concertos were also adaptations of lost works for strings or winds, prompting several musicologists to attempt reconstructions. However, recent research has shown that they are more likely arrangements of earlier keyboard works. But what would Bach have done if he had to perform one of these pieces again and wished to showcase a different solo instrument? Ensemble Odyssee explores this question with three brand-new arrangements, presented alongside Bach's own arrangement of his Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, each piece showcasing the virtuosity of the ensemble's four core members.

The Bay Area-based Cantata Collective, under the direction of Nicholas McGegan, launched their series of J. S. Bach's large-scale choral masterworks with a "bold and beautifully constructed" St. John Passion (BBC Radio 3 Record Review). The Mass in B minor, and the Easter Oratorio paired with Magnificat, followed to equally glowing acclaim, setting the stage for the other of Bach's great Passions, the masterful St. Matthew Passion for double choir and double orchestra. Completing the cast is the Cantata Collective's own chorus, the inspirational San Francisco Girls Chorus, and a superlative sextet of soloists-tenor Tom Cooley as the Evangelist, bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton as Jesus, baritone Harrison Hintzsche as Pilatus, soprano Sherezade Panthaki as Pilatus' wife, alto Reginald Mobley, and tenor James Reese. With texts blending gospel with poetry, the recording-captured live in the glowing acoustic of Berkeley, California's First Church-is by turns expressive and contemplative. Presented across three CDs and available digitally in Dolby Atmos, the sumptuous presentation includes insightful booklet notes by Daniel R. Melamed, esteemed Bach scholar and President of the American Bach Society.

Vol. 2 of the portrait of the exceptional cellist who died far too young. Francoise Groben's fascinating dedication to music, her large number of international concerts and her encounters with the most prominent artists of her time - that is what this collection shows par excellence.

"Flutist Ashley Solomon and Florilegium continue the Spohr Collection project with Volume 3. Ashley plays nine original exquisite 18th century flutes from Peter Spohr’s private collection, which can now be heard around the world for the first time. They are made from various materials including solid ivory, ebony and ivory, and boxwood and ivory. These historical instruments possess a beautiful and unique sound, making them most desirable to play.

This new recording explores repertoire from Italy, Germany and England written by composers including Vivaldi, Mozart, Clagget and Locatelli. Each work matches historically and geographically with the flute Ashley plays. Soprano Rowan Pierce joins them for two songs by Chilcot and Lampe."

My selection of works by Rameau, Rachmaninoff and Bach for this album weaves a tapestry of nostalgia for a Golden Age — an epoch of eternal beauty and purity in which time itself has a completely different meaning.
I have placed the works non-chronologically and in a tripartite form in order to present not only a better perception of time’s effects on the artist, performer and listener but also its presence in essence thanks to the composer’s art: Rameau’s Suite in G from his Nouvelles Suites de pièces de clavecin functions as a type of prelude, Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a theme of Corelli as the central element, and Bach’s French Suite in B minor as a postlude.
The time frames of the two Baroque cycles that open and close the album are extremely flexible; music of this period never seems to hurry — it is as if the com­poser is saying “Take your time — you have plenty of it — and breathe as freely as you want”. Rachmaninoff, however, pushes us out of our comfort zone, squeezing time like a spring or stopping it completely while reflecting upon the cruelty of the outside world and the harm that it does to harmony and beauty. I decided not to end this recording with the Variations on a theme of Corelli, given the work’s powerful emotional charge; the suite by Bach that concludes the album returns us to a state of harmony and gives us hope that there is time enough.
Konstantin Emelyanov

The oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) are seminal works in the early history of a genre that combines sacred narrative, theatrical expression, and musical virtuosity to create a new, dramatic form. Of the mostly Old Testament stories to which Carissimi's oratorios refer, the vivid tale of Jonah stands out. During his divine mission at sea, the biblical hero is caught in a storm and swallowed by a whale. Carissimi shapes this material into a fast-paced plot with emotionally powerful solo recitatives, interspersed with a complex array of choral passages-including a striking double chorus depicting the storm. Who better to interpret Carissimi's expressive music than Giovanni Antonini, one of the foremost conductors on the period-instrument scene? The performance also features the historically informed performance ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, with instrumentation specially adapted to the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the unique tonal qualities of the oratorio. It's artistic director Giovanni Antonini has worked with the Bavarian Radio Chorus for many years, with critically acclaimed concerts featuring works ranging from the early Baroque period to the First Viennese School-and he also finds the perfect sound for Carissimi's music. With choral music by Claudio Monteverdi and Orlando di Lasso, this album also traces the development of dramatic vocal music in the transition from the late Renaissance motet to the more emotionally expressive interpretations of the early Baroque period. The famous Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving piece from the lost opera Ariadne by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who reworked this lament into an equally expressive madrigal in 1610. Excerpts from the two legendary and mysterious cycles Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Lagrime di San Pietro by the Wittelsbach court composer Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) conclude the album, allowing us to experience masterpieces of the motet style, to which the Bavarian Radio Chorus regularly devotes itself in historically informed performances. With it's powerful double-choir storm scene, the oratorio Jonah is a highlight of high Baroque choral music. Carissimi's oratorios are key milestones in the development of the genre. Featuring the renowned early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, led by Giovanni Antonini, with whom the BR Chorus has already performed programmes to high acclaim, this release also includes the madrigal version of the legendary Lamento d'Arianna by Claudio Monteverdi, the master of early Baroque opera. Also including excerpts from two important cycles of works by the Munich Renaissance master composer Orlando di Lasso, this dynamic live recording captures performances in Munich's Prinzregententheater.

A re-release of his critically accalaimed recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach´s Secular Cantatas. Recordings from 1994 - 2000, part of the project The Complete Bach on 172 CDs. hänssler CLASSIC is proud to present Helmuth Rilling's landmark recording of the Secular Cantatas in a new collector's edition. Rilling was the first conductor to ever record the complete Bach cantatas and still, 25 years after they were first released in celebration of the Bach tercentennial in 1985, they remain the standard by which all other interpretations are judged. This box set includes timeless performances featuring many of Europe's finest singers at the height of their careers.

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.

Born in Grottkau, a town close to Wroclaw in Lower Silesia (modern day Poland), Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750) is for the lute what Johann Sebastian Bach represents for harpsichord and organ. Since 1706, in his hometown, he served Count of Palatinate Charles Philippe, brother of Prince Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, patron of the arts and dedicatee of Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerti Grossi, Op VI.

Starting in 1718, he settled permanently in Dresden, refusing the salary offered by the Viennese Court –which was almost twice as much as he was earning in Dresden – and dedicated his efforts to composing more than 600 lute pieces, either solo or with other instruments. In Dresden, he took part in the musical life in court and met numerous musicians; he was particularly friendly with Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Sebastian’s son and organist at Saint Sophia’s Church. In 1739, the two friends travelled to Leipzig where they were hosted by Johann Sebastian for four weeks. We don’t know for sure for the music played by Bach and Weiss during their meeting, but it seems legitimate to think that they played their music on their instruments composing, arringing or improvising together. This programme is meant to witness this precise type of practise, and in some manner aims at recreating the musical atmosphere of these two musicians’ meeting, during which, as reported by Johann Friedrich Reichardt in the Berlinische Musikalische Zeitung,"being aware of the difficulty in performing controlled and elegant phrases on the lute, eyewitnesses ensure that the great lutenist from Dresden, together with the great organist and harpsichordist Bach improvised many fugues and fantasies together".

This album presents three large and undoubtedly genuine compositions. In addition, it presents some of Bach's doubtful and spurious works, which were already attributed to him in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By using an original organ (Mueller, 1734, in the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam) and a performance asesthetic based on historically informed choices of registration, touch, articulation and ornamentation - all magical details of Bach's music shine through.

With 37 confirmed trio sonatas to his credit, Giuseppe Tartini is the most important Italian composer of his generation for this type of repertoire. It may seem odd therefore that these works have been so sorely neglected; indeed, as of 2022 only around 20 per cent of the repertoire had been recorded and a critical edition had yet to be published. This state of affairs was largely due to confusion regarding sources, with many divergent interpretations and uncertainties regarding the dates of the handwritten scores. Some order has been brought to this originally chaotic situation by the research carried out by Juan Mariano Porta from 2018 to 2022 as part of his doctoral studies, the result of which was the inclusion of the trio sonatas in the upcoming publications of the Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giuseppe Tartini, with advance materials made available to the Il Demetrio ensemble for recording. Giuseppe Tartini dedicated almost all his energy to his chosen instrument, the violin. His established corpus of works currently numbers 200 sonatas for violin and bass, 150 violin concertos, 37 trio sonatas, a handful of concertos for other instruments, and a small number of quartet sonatas and vocal compositions. Production of the trio sonatas began in the composer's late-mature years, and their style would seem to correspond to Tartini's final compositional period, described as a Drang nach absoluter Musik [urge for absolute music], which began around 1750 without a clear line of demarcation from what came before and continued until the composer's death. The trend was towards simplicity, partly deriving from Tartini's desire to put his theoretical speculations into practice. The trio sonatas no longer feature the virtuoso passages of earlier works. They present a binary form with regular phrasing. Their harmonic rhythm is slow, with the violins mainly proceeding in parallel triplets. The function of the bass is relegated one of harmonic support. This recording contains the sonatas G1, D1, d1 A1, A2, A3, A6, and a1, which date to Tartini's final compositional sub-period. They are little-known pieces, most of them hitherto unpublished.

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).

Florentine, born Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1786), was considered one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his day. Periods of residence in London, Dusseldorf, Venice, and Dresden brought the eccentric musician international fame. Amongst his extensive output,� his Sonate Accademiche Op. 2 (London/Florence 1744) for violin and basso continuo are the best known today.�The character of the Sonate Accademiche is defined by a peculiar combination of the intellectual, the virtuosic, and the highly expressive.�Despite the technically demanding writing for the violin, Veracini's masterfully idiomatic approach to his own instrument means the virtuosity flows with a natural ease and playfulness.

The Italian organist Massimiliano Sanca proposes in this CD (Vol.2 of a project of five cds of Bach complete Organ works) the famos Triosonatas. 1733). In 1727 Johann Sebastian Bach started drafting a manuscript of organ music which included the Leipzig Chorales and the Canonical Variations BWV 769, as well as the six trio sonatas for organ (BWV 525/530). "Trio sonatas" in this case refers to the fact that the two manuals and the pedal are handled independently, though closely related to each other, in "a musical discourse, as if they were three different instruments dialoguing between each other through notes and figures" (N. Harnoncourt). We ought not to forget that in Bach's time, "to play" in the German language was not expressed through the verb spielen, as it is today, but through vortragen, whose translation means "to deliver a speech" through the organ, violin, and so on. Bach did not name the whole work, but he titled each sonata instead, such as "Sonata a 2 Clav. And Pedal by J. S. Bach". According to his biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the trio sonatas might have been composed between 1727 and 1732, in order to introduce Bach's oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann (who was, from Johann Sebastian point of view, the most gifted of his sons) to the organ practice. As a result, my own interpretation is aimed at highlighting every technical, discoursive and sound detail that Bach teaches us through the use of rhetorical musical figures. The choice of registers in the recording and interpretation performed here is meant to "paint through sounds" the "colour" and feeling into the movement of each sonata, also expressed through "affections" in the different tonalities in a very crystal clear way. Massimiliano Sanca plays on the organ made by Ilic Colzani (2007) for the Sanctuary of Vallio Terme (BS). It is made with mechanical transmission, is strongly inspired by the production of the famous organ builder Gottfried Silbermann, who worked in Germany in the first half of the 18th century in close contact with Johann Sebastian Bach. But this is not a copy, but a totally original project that combines the particular sounds of the pipes made according to the construction specifications and the measures adopted by Silbermann.

For her debut solo album of music by J. S. Bach's contemporary Gottlieb Muffat, Gramophone praised pianist and harpsichordist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya as "an ideal advocate for the music". Now, for her second solo recording for Linn, she turns to Johann Sebastian Bach in Transformations, revealing him as the supreme reinventor who continually refashioned existing material into striking new creations. The recital includes Bach's brilliant reworkings of concertos by Vivaldi and Marcello, expanded with a colour and vitality well beyond the originals. The other works on the programme are extraordinary arrangements of Bach's own music (Adagio in G major and Sonata in D minor), pieces initially written for a different instrument (Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat major) and a concerto without orchestra (the Italian Concerto).

We have wanted to record Bach's violin concertos with Sophie Gent ever since she joined Ensemble Masques in 2003, says Olivier Fortin, harpsichordist and founder of the ensemble that explores Baroque music with such passion. "Sophie is an exceptional musician with an extremely convincing, honest and unpretentious style". Another pillar of the group is Kathleen Kaji, who is the soloist for Telemann's viola concerto. "Telemann is a fantastic storyteller," she says, "who provides a plot, characters, costumes and props - and leaves you to put it all together". Two sinfonie by Albinoni link the concertos and shine a spotlight on each musician in the ensemble.

The French harpsichordist Celine Frisch has an extensive discography, including many award-winning recordings devoted to Bach. Now she presents the Partitas, the famous and abundant collection of six suites that Bach composed from 1726 onwards - at the rate of one new partita per year - which he published as his Opus 1: As Celine Frisch points out, "Bach explores the possibilities of each dance in order to extend it's limits deploying an intense expressive palette that ranges from the most disarming tenderness through to the most poignant distress and unbridled joy".

Luc Beaus�jour - "Bach : Un itin�raire" / Harpsichordist and organist Luc Beaus�jour makes his ATMA Classique debut. This musical biography of Bach follows an itinerary of different locations where the composer worked or held posts. Luc explains, "The various jobs Johann Sebastian Bach held during his life, whether working for a prince or a municipality, influenced his musical production. I have selected one piece written at each of the places in which Bach worked, so this recording project offers a panorama of his works for harpsichord." Virgin Music Group; ATMA Classique; Classical

Bulgarian-born pianist Kristina Marinova harnesses the healing powers of emotional melodies on LOVES ME NOT, a curated selection of soulful classical piano pieces spanning three centuries, from Bach to Rachmaninoff. Within the album’s tracklist lies an impressive range of works and composers: Gluck, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Scriabin, Tarrega and Satie, to name a few. The compositions are united by their melancholic themes (often sparked by biographical calamity), but like an acorn that falls from the crown of a tree, they bear within themselves a seed of hope, a new beginning.

The Art of Fugue is Bach's final composition and one of his most challenging. In this album Phantasm and it's director Laurence Dreyfus showcase all the hidden beauties of the composer's magnum opus, arguably the pinnacle of the fugue genre. Printed in open score, the format allows a rendition on viols, as recorded here. Brimming with rich counterpoint and dynamic conversation among the parts, the work can legitimately claim a place within the consort repertoire. Bach manages to paint a finely delineated set of contrasting musical portraits full of revelations and surprises. Far from an academic encyclopaedia of arcane musical techniques, The Art of Fugue thus embarks on a (unfinished) voyage of discovery shared by an inveterate explorer whose thirst for invention knows no bounds. Organist Daniel Hyde performs four movements in this welcome follow-up to Phantasm's acclaimed Well-Tempered Consort series.

In Samson Tsoy's artfully designed solo debut recording, ideas reverberate across the centuries as Brahms's elaborations of works by two past masters are juxtaposed with reworkings of his own music by two later composers. Lauded for his originality and 'inexhaustible imagination', the young pianist and celebrated duo partner of Pavel Kolesnikov is fascinated by the intimate and poignant role of an interpreter. Questioning the subtle difference between interpretation and creation, Tsoy weaves together this complex tapestry of versions, variants and variations. Forming the core of this gripping recital, Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Op. 24, is a series of carefully crafted miniatures. Bach's Chaconne, brilliantly arranged for the left hand by Brahms, is another instance of a genius humbly sourcing inspiration while interpreting the masterwork of his predecessor. The rest of the recital points to Brahms's successors Busoni and Reger, who arranged six of Brahms's Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, and Vier Ernste Gesange, Op. 121, respectively.

San Francisco-based early music ensemble Cantata Collective continues its major series of J. S. Bach’s choral works with the Mass in B Minor, a towering testament of sacred music and the composer’s crowning achievement of his final years. With celebrated conductor Nicholas McGegan, four of today’s most distinguished early music vocal soloists and a refined chamber choir, this live recording exudes a spontaneity that reveals the depth and passion of Bach’s glorious affirmation of faith.

REVIEW:

Some of the most impressive choral singing in this recording is heard in the central three choruses of the Symbolum Nicenum, the crowning glory and some of Bach’s best music in the entire Mass. The Cantata Collective’s choral forces shine in their expressive use of color and dynamic shading in the long arching lines of “Et incarnatus est” and “Crucifixus” and are able to hold their own in “Et resurrexit” — due, in part, to McGegan’s careful balancing and phrasing.

— EarlyMusicAmerica.org

The oboe quartet W.B. 60 No.1 by Bach's youngest son, Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), is no longer baroque at all, despite the musical education he received from his father and older brother Wilhelm Friedemann. His music thrives on sparkling melodies and an accompaniment bursting with ideas, which gives each instrument in his quartet compositions a high degree of independence and charming solos. Mozart's oboe quartet also reflects the new, virtuoso possibilities of the elegant and sensitive classical oboe and combines them with the lyrical sound of the strings. The fact that we know little music by Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739-1813) today does not do justice to the extensive oeuvre of this composer, who was successful during his lifetime. Born in Bohemia and died in Vienna, Wanhal was one of the most progressive musical personalities of his time. The last piece on this recording, Mozart's Adagio K. 580a in a version for cor anglais and strings, exists only as a fragment and shares thematic material with K. 618, Ave Verum Corpus, which was written in 1791, six months before Mozart's death, and which is thought to anticipate elements of the Requiem.

For his first CD with La Dolce Volta, Olivier Latry has chosen a programme devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. This recording, made on the massive Cavaille-Coll organ of Notre-Dame de Paris, of which he is titular organist, raises a number of fascinating questions. 'My approach highlights several paradoxes: the notion of performing these key works of Protestantism in one of the most emblematic centres of Catholicism, first of all, but also of playing them on an instrument that is, to say the least, far removed from the Baroque and Classical style of organ building. It's quite true, all of this raises questions. 'However, the most important question remains, in my opinion, that of authenticity in music. I must confess that this concept often seems to me to be a decoy... Playing Bach in this context therefore implies finding a new balance in order to preserve the spirit and letter of music. One cannot be divorced from the other. 'Every performer plays with the instruments of his or her time, and the instrument I have here at Notre-Dame is an outstanding one. One cannot and must not fight against the past, but on the contrary assimilate it, the better to derive inspiration from it and then find one's personal path. We shouldn't really be talking about authenticity at all, but, more soberly, about sincerity.'

A trumpet-tuba duo: what an unusual idea! At the height of the pandemic, the brothers Thomas and Romain Leleu came up with the notion of creating a unique ensemble. While virtuosity (whose Latin origin in the word virtus, at once 'strength' and 'virtue', should never be forgotten) was a given for the two musicians, who play with an astonishing rapport, they are even more fascinated by the search for the appropriate sound world for the newly minted pieces they perform. An opportunity to meet two illusionists.

"The violinist’s playing is extraordinary — as fresh and improvisatory as though he were composing each sonata on the spot, but also infused with an infectious emotional ardor." -- Cleveland Classical

The Mystery Sonatas by Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, believed to have been penned in the 1670s, remain unsurpassed for their virtuosity and extended use of scordatura, a unique tuning system that underscores different aural colours and timbres of the violin, thereby illuminating the pictorial themes of the Rosary – the processions devoted to major moments in the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary – which Biber’s work depicts.

Singaporean violinist Alan Choo, the vibrant leader of acclaimed baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire, headlines a dynamic and descriptive recording of the Mystery Sonatas, enhancing the scordatura with six different violins that require 15 individual tunings. He explains, “The use of a unique scordatura tuning for each sonata means that a violinist needs to use multiple violins if performing several of the pieces in the same week – each violin kept at the tuning of its respective sonata. Otherwise, the constant re-tuning of a violin would destabilize its tuning. I used a total of six violins in this recording. The personality of each instrument shines through.”

Joined by a chamber ensemble of his Apollo’s Fire colleagues, including founding director Jeannette Sorrell on harpsichord, Choo navigates Biber’s extended techniques with aplomb and devotion to the 15 programmatic sonatas which are compiled into three cycles – the Joyful Mysteries (the Angel Gabriel delivers the news to Mary that she will be the mother of the Messiah), Sorrowful Mysteries (Jesus’ agony, knowing he is about to be betrayed) and Glorious Mysteries (the Resurrection of Christ and his ascent to heaven) – and are crowned by the timeless finale, Passacaglia for solo violin.

REVIEWS:

[The Mystery Sonatas'] extraordinary technical challenges include Biber’s requirement that the soloist play violins with strings “mis-tuned” (scordatura) from the normal G-D-A-E pitches for 13 of the 15 sonatas, creating different resonances in the instrument for expressive purposes. For somber subjects like “The Agony in the Garden,” the open strings play A-flat – E-flat – G – D, clashing pitches “evoking a sense of struggle,” as Choo writes. For triumphant subjects like “The Ascension,” the open strings are tuned to create a “glorious” C-Major chord. For the recording, Choo has used a total of six instruments to avoid constant retuning that would be destabilizing.

The violinist’s playing is extraordinary — as fresh and improvisatory as though he were composing each sonata on the spot, but also infused with an infectious emotional ardor.

An important aspect of this recording project is the realization of the basso continuo line, which could — as on other recordings — simply be chorded by organ or harpsichord. Never one to pass up the opportunity to tell a vivid story, Sorrell writes, "as a continuo player myself, I have always felt that the extraordinarily imaginative writing in Biber’s masterpiece calls for an imaginative and colorful approach to the accompaniment."

Thus Choo’s superb supporting cast includes harpsichord (Sorrell), chamber organ (Peter Bennett), cello and viola da gamba (René Schiffer), archlute and Baroque guitar (Brian Kay), theorbo (William Sims), triple harp (Anna O’Connell), and viola da gamba and lirone (Kivie Cahn-Lipman). There’s even a bit of percussion (Brian Kay) to accompany the Aria Tubicinum in “The Ascension.” Used judiciously and only rarely all together, they add texture and depth to the sonatas.

Even if you’re not into Roman Catholic mysticism, this recording should be treasured by fans of early Baroque music.

-- ClevelandClassical

An organist at the pinnacle of his achievement. With superb virtuosity and most fluent playing, André Isoir proposes a subtle, fervent, and very spiritual interpretation, free to the point of sounding almost like improvisation. His expression is fervent, and his instrumental performance infinitely refined, but also narrative and full of contrast.

Since his student days, the German-Taiwanese pianist Marcel Mok has hardly studied any other work as frequently and intensively as Bach's Goldberg Variations BWV 988. It was therefore only logical not only to conclude his studies with this variation cycle, but also to make his recording debut with it. The result of this exploration absolutely proves him right!