Vol. 16 of Kevin Bowyer’s survey of Bach’s organ music consists mainly of fragments, variants and misattributions, not all of which by any means were specifically intended for the organ. Among the more substantial pieces are two concertos which Bach translated to keyboard without pedals. One of them is an arrangement of the ninth concerto from Vivaldi’s first published set of such pieces for violin and strings, L’estro armonico; the other is a piece similarly arranged from a concerto by Duke Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. Bowyer articulates them clearly and has chosen suitable tempi, but generally speaking they sound more idiomatic on a harpsichord, which was probably Bach’s preferred instrument in these instances. Nevertheless, he has left us a version with pedals of the first movement of Duke Johann Ernst’s Concerto which further attests to his fascination with the contrapuntal complexities afforded by these Italianate pieces. Many of the remaining items contained in this two-CD set are by hands other than Bach’s. Some of these are more well-sustained and more entertaining than others, but Bowyer, takes us down a path that is anything but well-trodden and his programme holds much of interest in store, above all perhaps for the innocent ear. Further removed from the Bach idiom are the 18 delightful pieces inspired by the Cöthen castle clock. Notwithstanding their BWV Anhang credentials they clearly belong to a later hand, very possibly that of one of Bach’s pupils or circle of family and friends. Among many other things here which charm the senses is a cheerful Prelude by his pupil Gottfried August Homilius on the hymn melody ‘Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele’. The Marcussen organ at Odense in Denmark is a superb instrument and its character has been effectively captured by the recording.

-- Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine

"The performances have consistent life and integrity and striking spontaneity...the Nimbus engineers produce a sound-image with plenty of ambience, glowing, colorful pipings and throaty reeds, and plenty of weight when needed, the effect often expansively grand." - Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs - 2005/06 Edition

This release has received a Rosette – the highest award from the Penguin Guide.

Kevin Bowyer...has chosen to produce a series of carefully planned recitals, using the same Danish organ throughout, rather than grouping works together in their respective genres... Volume 2, a predominantly cheerful programme, brings more examples of Bowyer's lively rhythmic sytle and appealing colours and husky reeds of this fine Danish organ. -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs

Includes chorale(s) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloist: Kevin Bowyer.
Includes son(s) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloist: Kevin Bowyer.

Thirty-one-year-old organist Kevin Bowyer has already made a reputation for setting himself the kind of challenges that would make most organists blanch. He has championed the monumental organ symphonies of Sorabji and recorded organ music by Brahms and Alkan. But in embarking on a complete cycle of Bach's organ works he has surely set himself the ultimate challenge for a recording artist. To open the series, he has opted for the 'recital programme' format, rather than focusing attention on one particular generic form, and Volume I provides an attractive shop window of Bach's diverse styles for the inquisitive, if not yet commited purchaser. Bowyer chooses to play a three-manual mechanical-action Marcusson organ, and it is indeed an excellent choice. The sound is clear and bright, and the acoustics perfect for good articulation in fast passage-work. Kevin Bowyer's playing is stylish throughout, but most especially in the show-piece items which frame the programme. The opening rhetorical flourishes of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor WWV 565 which (typically) introduces the programme really cut through the air, and the Fugue is taken at a cracking pace. The Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542 is played with similar flair and imagination.

-- Stephen Haylett, BBC Music Magazine

This set is in MP3 format at 320 kbps.
These eight discs are equivalent to the 17 volume CD series. You will be able to transfer the files directly to your iPod or MP3 player or play the discs on your computer, most DVD players and the latest generation of in car players. The notes to accompany the original CD release of this series are written by Wilfrid Mellers, Jonathan Baxendale and Kevin Bowyer. These texts are reproduced in their entirety and form an extended essay of 42,000 words which is included on Disc 8. It is formatted as a pdf file ready for printing on standard A4 paper. Also on Disc 8 is an excel spreadsheet listing the pieces in 3 ways: by track number, by title and by BWV number.

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Following the success of Nimbus' re-release of their set of Haydn symphonies, conducted by Adam Fischer on MP3 CDs, Nimbus now comes up with another bargain in this format. This 8-CD set of Kevin Bowyer's recordings of Bach's organ works covers nearly 31 hours of music, and is presented in 320 kbps MP3 files. (For those who are interested, the files are encoded with LAME 3.97, using - preset insane). In our review of the Haydn symphonies, reviewer Dominy Clements compared some of the original CDs and the MP3 files, and concluded, "To be entirely honest, I couldn’t really spot any advantages or disadvantages in either in terms of absolute quality." I will echo his comments, having compared the MP3 files of this set to a few of the original Nimbus CDs. Not only do these MP3 files sound excellent, but very few people could reliably spot which files were which in a blind test.

It’s worth noting that Bowyer’s set, at nearly 31 hours, is close to twice as long as most of the other “complete” sets of Bach’s organ works. This is because he plays a number of spurious and mis-attributed works, as well as some works that are generally not played on organ, such as the Toccatas BWV 910-916. So what about the performances? They are generally considered to be one of the finer series of Bach's organ works. I have a number of sets of Bach's organ works, and this one stands out by virtue of the fact that all the music was recorded on a single organ (Sct. Hans Kirke, Odense, Denmark). Many, if not most, other sets are recorded at a variety of locations. Here, the organ itself is beautiful, and the recording is spacious but without too much reverberation. Bowyer's choice of registrations, tempi and phrasing are attractive throughout. You seriously couldn't go wrong with this set, at a price below that of two audio CDs.

-- Kirk McElhearn, MusicWeb International

BACH The Well-Tempered Clavier: Books I and II • Vladimir Feltsman (pn) • NIMBUS 2516 (4 CDs: 244:00)


One noteworthy aspect of our modern, evolving, and contentious arena of historical-performance practice is that the controversy over the suitability of the modern grand piano in the performance of Bach seems to have noticeably dissipated, perhaps for no other reason than the abundance of undeniably probing versions (live and on disc) by so many of our greatest performing artists. At this point, it seems churlish to invoke this prohibition in the face of Gould, Schiff, and countless others who have brought the endless pleasures of the master’s supreme creations to generations of devoted fans. Now we have Vladimir Feltsman adding his vision to the innumerable versions of the two books of The Well-Tempered Clavier . The list of admired Bach interpreters is not heavily weighted toward Russian artists, so some piano connoisseurs are likely to be intrigued by this release on Nimbus.


It’s not an easy task differentiating those interpretational preferences that are scholarship-based from those born of pure instinct, especially since so many of these strategies have slowly seeped from historically informed performers to “mainstream” artists. For example, Feltsman sometimes ends these movements with a fairly abrupt cessation of pulse (more like a breath before the final cadence—a hallmark of period-instrument practitioners), rather than a measure or two of ritardando . There are exceptions to this tendency, such as the slow unraveling in Prelude No. 4 from Book I, suggesting perhaps that for Feltsman instinct takes precedent over a scholar’s rulebook. Tempos are moderate, almost to a fault. There are few, if any, instances in which the pianist tries to draw out a rarely heard characteristic of these miniatures by pushing the tempo to one extreme or the other. Since Bach provided no tempo indications, this most basic element of interpretation is usually the first distinguishing trait worth examining, but Feltsman holds his cards close to the vest. If anything, his tempos run a bit under average, such as in the famous opening C-Major Prelude of Book I, drawn out patiently and with an ethereal touch. This will appeal to some as delightfully delicate, for others, cautious and precious.


Another tool in the pianist’s arsenal is the sustain pedal, the device that has continued to be a lightening rod for modern Baroque performance. Feltsman uses the device sparingly, in keeping with his generally restrained and self-effacing approach to Bach, and again in deference (consciously or otherwise) to prevailing norms. Similarly, his use of rubato (other than final cadences) is minimal, just enough to highlight the shape of a phrase, point out a noteworthy sequence, or telegraph an internal cadence or change of key. Prioritization of voices is another key subject, and Feltsman has certainly worked through this complex issue with care, though the differentiations in volume between melodic threads is a bit more subtle than for the aforementioned Gould and Schiff. There is one intriguing, if minor, idiosyncrasy regarding his conclusions. Bach ends most of the movements with long pitches, often with added fermatas. When the composer instead ends them with shorter, fermata-less notes, Feltsman emphasizes this distinction with brief, clipped final chords.


Some of the fugues are marked by sculpted and distinct voicing and a pervading sense of unyielding drive, though the tempos never race. The C-Major and G-Major Fugues from Book II are prime examples. Occasionally an understated reading will counterintuitively draw attention to itself, such as in the third prelude in C? from Book II. The fourth prelude from the same book is exquisitely drawn and profoundly moving. The Fifth Fugue (D Major), also from Book II, is among the most idiosyncratic of the lot, not because of any peculiar phrasing, but because his choice of a moderate tempo makes the inner relationships of the fugues clearer than is usually the case. If there is a shortcoming in this otherwise impressive survey, it would be a slight but persistent sense of discomfort with ornaments. They often seem uncomfortably rushed and not always particularly clean.


If you’re looking for a strong point of view or novel approach, this is not the recording for you. I don’t intend to suggest that the readings are dry or that the 48 movements lack individual character. Indeed, Feltsman is careful to provide a well-considered sensibility to each. The pianist is obviously awed by these works (who isn’t?), and it’s possible that this deference prevents a more personalized examination. The recorded sound is clean and neutral, fairly close but not unnaturally so. I can’t say that this is the first version of the WTC that I’ll reach for when I feel the need for musical nourishment, but it won’t gather dust either.


FANFARE: Michael Cameron

Guitarist Eliot Fisk is known worldwide as a charismatic performer famed for his adventurous and virtuosic repertoire. He is also celebrated for his willingness to take art music into unusual venues (including schools, senior centers, logging camps, and prisons). After 45 years before the public he remains, as his mentor Andres Segovia once wrote, "at the top line of our artistic world."

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th century composers. A regular guest soloist with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, he appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.

"I have remarked while listening to his Bach at the fleetness and lightness of touch Feltsman can command; he is the most deft of practitioners yet the left hand is always weighty and sonorous when required. In my experience only Vasary and perhaps Freire are as ethereal yet soulful; I listened to the whole disc straight through with unalloyed delight." - MusicWeb International

Miriam Fried has been recognized for many years as one of the world's preeminent violinists. A consummate musician - equally accomplished as recitalist, concerto soloist or chamber musician - she has been heralded for her ‘fiery intensity and emotional depth’ (Musical America) as well as for her technical mastery. Her supreme blend of artistry and musicianship continues to inspire audiences worldwide. Miriam Fried has played with virtually every major orchestra in the United States and Europe and has been a frequent guest with the principal orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as with the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony. Recital tours have taken her to all of the major music centers in North America and to Brussels, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, Paris, Salzburg, Stockholm and Zurich. Chamber music plays an important role in Ms. Fried's musical life. She was the first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet for ten years and collaborates regularly with her son, pianist Jonathan Biss. During the 2015-16 season, Ms. Fried returned to the Bach solo Sonatas and Partitas. She recorded a series of lectures addressing performance questions relating to these works.

"...quite simply an amazing pianist!” - The New York Times

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 21st-century composers. He has appeared with all the major American orchestras and on the most prestigious musical stages and festivals worldwide.

I know that I will listen to it repeatedly – and gladly.

I simply can’t resist a recording of the Goldberg Variations, no matter how many I have and have heard, and reviewed, no matter whether on the harpsichord, transcribed or on the piano. Which, technically, is a transcription, too – but so accepted by now, that we don’t think of it as such.

Like probably everyone who is familiar with this work, I have certain favorites or have been shaped, in my expectations, from recordings that left an emotional footprint – usually because they were the first with which one was exposed to the work. Glenn Gould’s recordings are so fêted, rank so high, because his was one of the first, certainly the most iconic, recording that brought the Goldberg Variations to our attention. For listeners and performers alike it remains the most important recording in the catalogue, but in more than part because of its landmark status, not because of the playing or interpretation.

Gould’s 1955 recording might be the first (important) word on the Goldberg Variations on piano, but it isn’t the last. Evidently, because among the 300+ recordings that have since been made, there must be well over 100 that also use the piano, and all – hopefully – by pianists that thought they, too, had something to say about the aria and its 30 variations.

Among those to follow Gould, I cherish Murray Perahia (2000, Sony) for a suave, romantic approach and fine tone – the nervously idiosyncratic, Gouldesque, at times, Konstantin Lifschitz (1994, Denon), and Evgeni Koroliov’s 1999 recording (on Hänssler Classics) who, after a boring aria, plays the variations with that inevitable, compelling, clockwork-like momentum that seems so indelibly Bach’s.

Issued now, on Nimbus, is Vladimir Feltsman’s recording of the Goldberg Variations which was once available on MusicMasters/BMG and through the Musical Heritage Society. That was in the early 1990s, shortly after they were recorded at a recital Feltsman gave on 26 October 1991, at the Moscow Conservatory. In more than one regard, there are parallels to his younger Russian colleague Lifschitz, whose recording is also live, also recorded at the Conservatory (it was the 16 year old Lifschitz’s graduate recital, if I recall correctly), also observes all the repeats, and also employs mock register changes.

Feltsman’s touch is very deliberate, delicate, and of weightless elegance in the aria, though never ‘precious’. Very early on it becomes clear that Feltsman plays Bach more as if he were on a harpsichord than any pianist I have heard, but he doesn’t do it in the Gould way of trying to make the piano sound like the harpsichord it isn’t. No repeat is exactly as the first – there are always changes in registration, ornamentation, or voicing – sometimes all of them together. That can sound idiosyncratic, even here, but sufficient musical sensibility and taste prevent the playing from ever becoming a display of wayward vulgarity.

The arpeggiated four note chord in the 11th bar of the aria, a calling card for every interpreter, is first taken from the top down (g2-e2-b-g) as does Gould (and various pianists, but usually only in the repeat) – to marvelous effect. Feltsman doesn’t invert it in the repeat – which he starts out an octave higher, he makes it a coy bracketed step (g2- b- e2-g). The faux-register shifts, like Feltsman’s in the aria repeat, shifts can drive harpsichord players up the wall when done in place of actually changing nuances, because it seems to suggest that the pianist thinks that a harpsichord played really only changes octaves, rather than further vary his or her playing. Thankfully, Feltsman does them in a far less self-conscious manner than Martin Stadtfeld, who burst onto the scene with a self-recorded, idiosyncratic version of the Goldberg Variations that was picked up by Sony Europe. Nor does he leave it at playing higher or lower or switching voices from the right to the left hand and back, which is what Lifschitz could be said to be guilty of. Feltsman varies his touch even when he is already doing something more obviously ‘different’ with a repeat.

As far as piano interpretations are concerned, his is as far away as can be from the overt and, dare I say: schmaltzy, emoting of Simone Dinnerstein. (Not that her approach is per se bad, or her recording – if you like the style – anything but fine and worth listening to.) His ‘stubbed out’ fourth variation doesn’t glide by, it happily, haltingly bops along. Variation 14 is particularly colorful as notes twitter at the listener from all registers.

Bringing the Goldberg Variations – with all repeats – in under 80 minutes speaks of the nimble fingers that Feltsman employs often, but not throughout nor indiscriminately. He is very audibly unconcerned about getting things ‘done in time’ whenever he lingers, as for example in variation 15.

There isn’t the focus on forward propulsion that makes Koroliov’s recording (85 minutes) special, but everything is ever-vigilant and entertaining. Because you are always expecting something new, it makes for very alert ears. Undoubtedly a happy surprise – and one of the most charming piano accounts I have heard in a long time. If repeat listening will prove to be as enjoyable as the first impression was good I can’t tell, but I know that I will listen to it repeatedly – and gladly – until I know.

-- Jens F. Laurson, MusicWeb International

Recording information: American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, NYC (07/12/1993-04/14/1993).

The first two volumes of this recording series focused on orchestral and chamber/piano music respectively, and the third volume was a recording of a live 50th birthday concert presented by the New Haven Symphony. This fourth volume has yet a different focus: music primarily featuring strings, and almost exclusively performed by young musicians. Thomas wrote: "If one were to shut one's eyes while listening to this CD, one should imagine a stage full of passionate young musicians. Two of these performances are even taken from live, unedited concert recordings (Juilliard and Tanglewood). Thus this disc as a whole celebrates the skill and dedication of youthful musicians who play with utter commitment and flair."

Bold, passionate, urgent - Augusta Read Thomas writes music that is wholly and completely alive. Part of a major series of works by Augusta Read Thomas being released by Nimbus Records, this CD originates from a concert by musicians of the University of Illinois, which took place on December 9, 2014 in celebration of Thomas' 50th birthday. The works gathered here cover a relatively short span in this composer's chronology: just 13 years from the earliest work (Bells Ring Summer, 2000) to the most recent (Twilight Butterfly, 2013).