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BACH: THE ART OF FUGUE

HARMONIA MUNDI

$18.33 Jun 09, 2023

Notated on four staves, as though intended for some unspecified set of instruments (or even voices), these thirteen erudite contrapuncti, four canons, and an unfinished triple fugue-incorporating the letters of Bach's name-are often considered to be his musical testament. Shrouded in myths traceable to it's very origins, The Art of Fugue is a puzzle for the performers and for the listeners alike, but when a brilliant string quartet takes up the challenge, a solution becomes obvious, and the music takes flight.

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BACH: THE ART OF FUGUE
HARMONIA MUNDI Jun 2023
CD
$18.33

BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS
MDG Jun 1996
CD
$45.99

J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos

Hungaroton

$21.99 Oct 14, 2014

J.S. Bach’s concertos are regular and frequent concert repertoire. These slightly more than two-dozen concerti, composed for orchestra, nevertheless constitute only a fraction of Bach’s works. On this recording, the Capella Savaria, featuring Liszt Prize-holder soloist Zsolt Kalló, perform reconstructed versions of two of these lost violin concerti, supplemented by two surviving violin concertos. The Capella Savaria has earned its fame as the first period-instrument chamber orchestra in Hungary. “One of Europe’s best ensembles.” (Opus Magazine, Canada)

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J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos
Hungaroton Oct 2014
CD
$21.99

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Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Vol. 2 / Schmitt
Alpha Sep 2007
CD
~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Bach: A Harmonious Journey / Adam Mital

Genuin

$20.99 Mar 03, 2023

Cellist Adam Mital is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany, and the International Adam Cello Competition in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has now poured his experience as a soloist and chamber musician into a CD released by GENUIN, which brings together three of Johann Sebastian Bach's brilliant suites for solo cello. With a wink of his eye, the brilliant musician Adam Mital gives us another highly virtuosic composition of his own for solo cello. In doing so, he follows the established, centuries-old tradition of the composer being inseparable from the performer: a highly inspiring musical unity!

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Bach: A Harmonious Journey / Adam Mital
Genuin Mar 2023
CD
$20.99

Bach: The Complete Organ Works, Vol. 1 / Goode

Signum Classics

$19.99 Nov 11, 2016

The organ loomed large from early on in Bach’s life. The foundations of his multifaceted career as a professional musician were clearly laid in the careful cultivation of Bach’ prodigious talent as an organist whilst he was still a child. - See more at: http://www.signumrecords.com/catalogue/david-goode/johann-sebastian-bach:-the-complete-organ-works/sigcd800.html#sthash.gfLILMva.dpuf

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Bach: The Complete Organ Works, Vol. 1 / Goode
Signum Classics Nov 2016
CD
$19.99

Bachiana - A Solo Cello Fantasy / Topalovic

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Jan 07, 2022

Ana Topalovic is a visual synaesthete. For her, music has colors and shapes. This phenomenon opens up a new dimension of sound perfection for Ana, and with this ability she is able to search for concealed connections. For this album, Ana has selected five contemporary female composers who she feels provide a complementary synaesthetic connection to the individual movements of Bach's Suite No. 1. A very profound and intimate interpretation of her music has been created, thanks to years of close cooperation between Ana Topalovic, Doina Rotaru, Johanna Doderer and Gabriele Proy, as well as extensive experience with the music of Kaija Saariaho. Ana's breathtaking musical performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 1 leads the listener through the fantastic, playful, virtuosic and sensual world of modern music like a common thread or a friendly tour guide. Her interpretation lives in its own unique and extraordinary world, satisfying our need to connect the unknown with the known. The familiar sound of the cello shines in surprising ways, and its hidden depths are revealed, bringing its best qualities to the fore.

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Bachiana - A Solo Cello Fantasy / Topalovic
Haenssler Classic Jan 2022
CD
$20.99

Easy-Listening Piano Classics: Bach

Naxos

$25.99 ~~$35.99~~ Save 25% Sep 28, 2010

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was most famous during his lifetime as a keyboard virtuoso, principally as an organist but also as a harpsichord player, and he composed a significant body of keyboard music. Many of these works (including transcriptions of his organ music) occupy a central place in the repertoire of pianists both amateur and professional, delighting players and listeners alike to this day. The keyboard music that Bach published falls into four anthologies, each titled Clavier Übung (Keyboard Practice), a rather dry title for what turns out to be an amazing wealth of music! Other works, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I and II, while not published by Bach, circulated widely in manuscript form and have been influential on composers and performers: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Reger, Schumann, Busoni and many others have fallen under Bach's spell, using his music to develop their own and their students' techniques, and inspired by Bach's extraordinary achievement when composing their own works. Books I and II of The Well-Tempered Clavier each contain preludes and fugues in all the 24 major and minor keys, from C major to B minor, and are collectively known as 'the 48'. Sometimes referred to as the 'Old Testament' of keyboard music (Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas being the 'New'), the preludes explore an astonishing variety of musical forms (including the famous toccata-like Prelude No 1 in C Major from Book I, various dance styles and concerto- or fantasia-like movements) while the fugues range equally broadly from rather formal examples in 'old fashioned' academic style to others based on more up-to-date musical forms. The term 'well-tempered' refers to the system of tuning, new in Bach's day, which allowed music to be played in any key and has become the standard in Western music. Bach's 15 two-part Inventions and 15 three-part Sinfonias BWV 772-801 were originally written as educational pieces for the notebook Bach prepared for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, herself an accomplished musician. During the Baroque period collections of 'overtures' or 'dance suites' were particularly popular. Bach composed three sets of six suites: the so-called 'English' Suites BWV 806-811, the 'French' Suites BWV 812-817 and the keyboard Partitas BWV 825-830. Each suite comprises a basic set of dances based on different national models, Allemande (German), Courante (Italian or French), Sarabande (Spanish/Latin American) and Gigue (French, based on the British Jig) with additional dances included. The Goldberg Variations BWV 988 presents an aria (that is, a song-like movement) with thirty variations based on the aria's bass line rather than it's tune (Beethoven would work similar wonders with his 'Diabelli' Variations Op. 120). The Italian Concerto BWV 971 was inspired by the exciting new music that was finding it's way north during Bach's lifetime. Bach also transcribed for keyboard several orchestral concertos by Vivaldi and other Italian composers. In addition, several shorter pieces, including the famous hymn Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring and dances from the Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Notebook are included.

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Easy-Listening Piano Classics: Bach
Naxos Sep 2010
CD
~~$35.99~~ $25.99

Bach & Gubaidulina
Audite Musikproduktion Nov 2025
CD
$20.99

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J.S. Bach, Liszt, Reger & Straube: Elements of Bach

Ars Produktion

SACD

$24.99 Mar 17, 2023

Three nights of recording this album are behind me. This time has brought me even closer to the instrument of the organ-building company Hermann Eule in the Cathedral of St. Petri in my home town of Bautzen, which has been well known to me since my early childhood. The mystical atmosphere and soul of the house of God are especially palpable at night, when everything is silent and dark outside. The focus of my programme is Johann Sebastian Bach, who is an important guide and inspirer for me. Seb. Bach is for me the beginning and end of all music; on him rests and is based all true progress!" - this quote by Max Reger runs as a common thread through my programme for the recording. The important Leipzig Thomaskantor was also an important creative source for Karl Straube, Max Reger and Franz Liszt. Each of the pieces on this CD finds its own reference to the work and person of the Baroque master: from late Romantic arrangements of Bach works by Karl Straube and Max Reger, to a work by Franz Liszt that quotes thematic motifs from Bach works, to Max Reger's monumental composition on the tone letters B-A-C-H, all the compositions revolve around the person and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. I go in search of the musical expression of the 19th century and trace compositions and interpretations from this period. Numerous recordings on the historic Sauer and Walcker organs already document the tonal and musical influences of the late Romantic period on the way music was made. The Eule organ in Bautzen's St. Peter's Cathedral, with its broad sound spectrum and numerous fundamental voices, offers an instrument directly suited to this repertoire. Already Karl Straube, who performed the organ recording on 8 March 1910, was particularly impressed by the mild intonation of the sound body. The recording is my personal gift on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversaries of Karl Straube and Max Reger, which will be celebrated on 06 January 2023 and 09 March 2023 respectively. The programme revels in Bach interpretations around 1900, the heyday of symphonic organ art. In this epoch, not only were new compositions specifically geared to the instruments of the time created in the field of organ music, but existing works were also arranged. The listener embarks on a journey into the past and experiences with Romantic ears a 100-year-old reception history of Johann Sebastian Bach's music. Each of the recorded works refers in its own way to Johann Sebastian Bach, whose figure and name inspired Karl Straube, Max Reger and Franz Liszt to create new, contemporary late Romantic works."

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J.S. Bach, Liszt, Reger & Straube: Elements of Bach
Ars Produktion Mar 2023
SACD
$24.99

Bach: Clavier-Ubung III

PENTATONE

$29.99 Feb 06, 2026

James McVinnie brings Johann Sebastian Bach's monumental Clavier-ubung III to life in a recording that captures both it's technical brilliance and profound spiritual depth. Bach's 1739 collection, his first published volume of organ music, is a masterful synthesis of compositional technique, theological meditation, and musical expression. With twenty-seven works, including chorale preludes, duets, and the majestic opening Prelude and closing Fugue, the collection is a rich musical exploration of Lutheran faith, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and the artistry of counterpoint at it's most sublime. From the intricate contrapuntal pairs of the Catechism chorales to the flowing bass lines of Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam, and the transcendent final Fugue in E flat, McVinnie navigates Bach's towering architecture with clarity, precision, and sensitivity. This recording highlights the cosmopolitan textures, theological symbolism, and emotional resonance that make Clavier-ubung III a pinnacle of the organ repertoire. With insight drawn from decades of study and performance, McVinnie offers a journey into Bach's musical universe, where faith, intellect, and artistry converge in works of extraordinary beauty and enduring power. James McVinnie made his PENTATONE debut in January 2025 with the album Dreamcatcher.

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Bach: Clavier-Ubung III
PENTATONE Feb 2026
CD
$29.99

Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue)
Ricercar Sep 2010
CD
$29.99

J.S. Bach: French Suites

Inventa Records

$20.99 Oct 16, 2026

These are the most outstanding clavier works of Johann Sebastian Bach' - so declared Bach's first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, in 1802. Possibly conceived as a wedding gift for the composer's second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach, the six so-called 'French Suites' exemplify the Style Galante and are prized for their elegance and exquisite melodic refinement. In this new recording, the acclaimed early keyboard specialist, Andrew Arthur, takes us on a captivating journey through these cornerstone suites of the Baroque keyboard repertoire. Drawing upon an extensive re-examination of the intriguing array of primary sources, he performs on two exceptional harpsichords by Andrew Garlick and Keith Hill, built after distinguished eighteenth-century models by the celebrated Parisian makers, Jean-Claude Goujon (1749) and Pascal Taskin (1769).

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J.S. Bach: French Suites
Inventa Records Oct 2026
CD
$20.99

Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord / Tilney

Music and Arts Programs of America

$24.99 ~~$32.99~~ Save 25% Oct 16, 2020

Johann Sebastian Bach's six Partitas for Harpsichord are among the greatest and most inspired works of all keyboard literature. They represent the composer's genius at the height of his maturity, matched only by his Goldberg Variations. They are performed here by Colin Tilney on a copy of an instrument by Christian Zell, Hamburg, 1728, built by Colin Booth, Wells, England, 1984. Colin Tilney is internationally known for his harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano playing, with many solo recordings on DG (Archive), EMI Electrola, Decca, Hyperion, Dorian, Doremi and CBC SM 5000. Originally working in London as an accompanist and repetiteur, in 1979 he moved to Canada, first to Toronto, where he taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music and founded the chamber group Les Coucous Benevoles; more recently (2002) to Victoria where he is on the staff of the Music School at the University of Victoria. J.S. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord is his eighth recording for Music & Arts.

REVIEW:

Colin Tilney’s tempos in Bach’s music have considerably slowed down with age (the harpsichordist is 87 at this writing), and he never was a sprinter to begin with. As a consequence, his Six Partitas rarely reflect the music’s dance roots. Indeed, movements dependent on rhythmic momentum, like the Fifth Partita’s Praeambulum, No. 6’s Air, No. 3’s Courante, and all of the Gigues often leave a ponderous impression. Rhythmic amorphousness prevails in No. 1’s Praeludium, where Tilney’s loosely held duple meter soon settles into a tuple meter groove. However, Tilney retains his masterful legato finger technique, and the ability to make the quills on his resplendently engineered harpsichord sing, as No. 1’s Sarabande, No. 2’s Sinfonia, and No. 4’s sensitively ornamented Allemande bear out.

Given the performances’ leisurely trajectory, it’s not surprising that they spill over to three CDs rather than the usual two. While my reference Bach Partitas on harpsichord remain those of Trevor Pinnock (Hänssler), Igor Kipnis (Warner Classics), and Jory Vinikour (Sono Luminus), the sheer beauty that Tilney creates in Bach’s more reflective movements may well be worth the price of admission.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

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Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord / Tilney
Music and Arts Programs of America Oct 2020
CD
~~$32.99~~ $24.99

J.S. Bach: The Six Partitas / Giulia Nuti

Arcana

$22.99 ~~$29.99~~ Save 25% Jan 26, 2024

Skillfully crafted, meticulously executed and utterly enjoyable, Giulia Nuti's solo recordings include three anthologies of keyboard music, the last two released with Arcana. These albums feature historically significant instruments carefully chosen by the artist to enhance the repertoire with which they are associated: Le Cœur et l’Oreille (2017), recorded on the 1658 Louis Denis harpsichord and, more recently, The Fall of the Leaf (2022), featuring the splendid Italian “Rucellai” virginal built around 1575.

Her albums have been met with critical acclaim and awards, such as the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” (German Record Critics’ Award) and the “Diapason d’or”.

For her fourth solo recital album, Giulia Nuti explores a different path, performing one of the pinnacles of keyboard literature, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Partitas. In this recording, she uses a splendid harpsichord by Christian Kuhlmann (2016), a copy of the magnificent Henri Hemsch of 1751.

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J.S. Bach: The Six Partitas / Giulia Nuti
Arcana Jan 2024
CD
~~$29.99~~ $22.99

J.S. Bach: Solo Keyboard Music

Idil Biret Archive

Vinyl

$74.99 May 30, 2025

Bach published during his lifetime four volumes of keyboard pieces under the title Clavierubung which began with a set of six Partitas, published between 1726 and 1731. The first of the set was the Partita No. 1 in B flat major. The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, was apparently written during Bach's time at Cothen, probably about 1720, and revised in Leipzig about 1730. The six English Suites, the 3rd being included here, have nothing particularly English about them, except their title. They were written perhaps in Weimar in about 1715 or possibly during Bach's period at Cothen. Bach brought together a set of five French Suites, of which the 5th is Biret's favourite, later augmented to six and forming part of the Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena, his second wife. The Italian Concerto in F major was published in 1735 in the second volume of the Clavierubungen, with the original title Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto. It reflects the style of the Venetian solo concertos by Vivaldi.

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J.S. Bach: Solo Keyboard Music
Idil Biret Archive May 2025
Vinyl
$74.99

Bach & Barrios: Guitar Works / Bardesio

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Feb 04, 2022

This album brings together things that at first glance don’t appear to have much in common: works by the two artists Johann Sebastian Bach and Agustín Barrios, who lived in distinctly different cultures many generations apart. However, the intriguing aspect of combining two so very disparate worlds is that shared elements only become apparent when they are placed side by side. Born in Uruguay, guitarist and composer José Fernández Bardesio began playing the guitar as an 11-year-old. He gave his first solo recital when he was only 15. He won first prizes at many renowned national and international competitions, including the Alirio Díaz (Gold Medal, Caracas), the Andrés Segovia Competition (Granada), the OAS Special Prize, and the Infanta Cristina Competition in Madrid.

Since making his debut in the United States and Spain in 1984, Bardesio has performed as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras in the Americas, Asia and Europe. He regularly appears at international guitar festivals and performs at important music centers including the Royal Festival Hall (London), Hall of the Americas (Washington, D.C.) and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York). He is featured in recordings with broadcasters in Venezuela, the US, Spain and France and his discography in the US, Spain and Germany bears testimony to his artistry. His albums are released by Hänssler Classic and his compositions with Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig.

REVIEWS:

If one had to identify an individual outstanding gem from this recording, which showcased the overall virtues of Fernández Bardesio, it would be the Mazurka Apasionada by Barrios. He composed in various styles, and the Romantic European style is strongly evidenced here; both tracks 1 and 13 have that common root. The influence of Chopin can also readily be recognized in this music. One detects a particularly strong empathy for the music in this rendition.

Fernández Bardesio is a master guitarist who demonstrates high levels of technical command over the instrument, and similar qualities of musicianship, in this recording. In comparing his renditions of Barrios and Bach, one gets the feeling that he is more at home with the former. That feeling is heightened when again listening to Bream play the Bach Lute Suites. There will always be disagreement about the ‘correct’ way to play this music, compounded by one’s overall preference for revered renditions of the past.

The instrument used on this occasion is not identified. However based on the accompanying photographs, and his past employment of an instrument by Daniel Friederich, it would be safe to assume that this same instrument was played here. This recording embodies an enjoyable programme, and fine guitar playing. The juxtaposition of Bach and Barrios’ while thematically interesting, inadvertently displays musicianship more at home with the latter.

-- MusicWeb International

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Bach & Barrios: Guitar Works / Bardesio
Haenssler Classic Feb 2022
CD
$20.99

Bach: Clavierübung, Vol. 1
Oehms Classics Aug 2012
SACD
$31.99

J.S. Bach, J.C. Bach, Praetorius & Schutz: Musikalische Exequien / Concentus König

IBS Classical

$17.99 Feb 02, 2024

In this recording, you will find a dialogue between two of the most essential funerary musical works of the German Baroque.

In 2022, we celebrated Heinrich Schütz, a central figure of the album, on the 350th anniversary of his death. As a culmination of a series of projects around his person and work, this recording wants to serve as a tribute to an extraordinary musical legacy that found in Johann Sebastian Bach, its greatest supporter. The manifest bond between both composers here is seen in the way in which death is shaken and beaten for later, collected from within our soul, be restored and sublimated by two artistic personalities capable of transcending a rich amalgamation of religious, cultural, and musical aspects around the ars moriendi of his time. Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien and Bach’s Actus Tragicus stem from a creative attitude toward death that is very close to home one from the other. Thus, it is not by chance that with their listening, both works fill us with peace and the deep sense of rest with which they do it.

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J.S. Bach, J.C. Bach, Praetorius & Schutz: Musikalische Exequien / Concentus König
IBS Classical Feb 2024
CD
$17.99

Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6 / Weber

Prospero Classical

$32.99 Jun 19, 2020

Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Solo Cello Suites are some of the most iconic classical music works. They have inspired not only cellists and audiences but other artforms as well, and they have been featured in ballet and theatre productions, even in films. The Swiss cellist Maja Weber performs the complete cycle of six suites on an outstanding instrument: on the legendary Stradivari cello "Bonamy Dobrée-Suggia" (1717). Among those who have performed on this instrument is the English violoncellist Hancock, while it's owners include the English scholar Bonamy Dobrée, after whom the instrument is named. But the touching story of this valuable violoncello really begins with the mysterious and diva-like Portuguese violoncellist Guilhermina Suggia (1885-1950), whose playing on her favorite instrument combined technical perfection and great emotionality, allowing her to cast a spell on her listeners with her warm, deep tones. Outwardly eccentric and volatile, Suggia was essentially an intelligent, warm- hearted woman. The instrument was sold on her death and the proceeds used to support a scholarship at London's Royal Academy of Music. The Bonamy Dobrée-Suggia Violoncello is currently part of the collection of the Swiss Habisreutinger Stradivari Foundation. Maja Weber has played it all over the world at countless concerts during the last two decades.

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Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6 / Weber
Prospero Classical Jun 2020
CD
$32.99

Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Cembalo obbligato, Vol. 1 / Terakado, Bonizzoni

Challenge Classics

$18.99 Feb 11, 2022

Johann Sebastian Bach developed a new style, cembalo obbligato, where the right hand of the keyboard plays as a melody instrument and is given the same importance as the violin, flute or other solo instrument. His sonatas for melody instrument and keyboard instrument include works for flute, violin, and viola da gamba. It seems that the obbligato style interested him more than the traditional continuo role for the keyboard. As for the violin, there are two sonatas written with basso continuo and six with harpsichord obbligato. Among these works, the six sonatas in particular were conceived as a set, with a consistent style and a well-considered key distribution. This set is one of the highlights in the catalog of Bach’s chamber music. Bach’s son Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach writes to Bach’s first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, in 1774: “The 6 clavier [and violin] trios...are amongst the best works of my dearly beloved father. Even now they sound very good and give me many delights, regardless of the fact that they are over fifty years old.” The key distribution is somewhat symmetric and this suggests that Bach intended these as a set of pieces for violin, comparable to his unaccompanied sonatas and partitas for violin. Additionally, with the exception of Sonata No. 6, this set of works all follow the church sonata style.

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Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Cembalo obbligato, Vol. 1 / Terakado, Bonizzoni
Challenge Classics Feb 2022
CD
$18.99

Bach, J.S.: Oster Kantaten (Easter Cantatas) - BWV 4, 31, 66
Berlin Classics Mar 2007
CD
$24.99

Bach: Tenor Arias

Nilento Records

$21.99 Feb 06, 2026

Bach: Tenor Arias Johann Sebastian Bach wrote more than 200 cantatas. This recording explores a selection of 12 tenor arias from his cantatas, ranging in instrumentation from rich tutti orchestra to intimate obbligato instruments. Leif Aruhn-Solén has been in demand internationally as a tenor in the field of early music for over 20 years. He is an acclaimed Evangelist and tenor soloist in Bach's oratorios and cantatas with both modern symphony orchestras as well as some of the world's foremost baroque orchestras: the Camerata of St. John, Brisbane; the Netherland Bach Society; the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Concerto Copenhagen; the Oslo Philharmonic; New Trinity Baroque, Atlanta. Göteborg Baroque has established itself as one of the leading Scandinavian baroque ensembles. Founded in 2003 by it's artistic director Magnus Kjellson, who conducts the ensemble from the keyboard of an organ or a harpsichord in a historically informed way, the ensemble regularly performs important and well-known works as well as re-premiering works that have been ignored or forgotten for hundreds of years. The recording was made possible thanks to a generous donation by Alfred Hagen and through the joint generosity of more than 160 individuals in an unprecedented Swedish crowdfunding campaign for a classical music recording.

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Bach: Tenor Arias
Nilento Records Feb 2026
CD
$21.99

Mix & Match

A musical offering

Ramee

$20.99 Jun 05, 2026

It was in 1747 that Johann Sebastian Bach received an invitation from King Frederic II of Prussia. Bach travelled with Wilhelm Friedmann - his eldest son - to Potsdam, where Carl Philipp Emanuel, his second eldest son, was accompanist to the king's court. This was the famous visit during which Johann Sebastian improvised a ricercar or fugue in three voices on a theme supplied by the monarch and later led him to compose the Musical Offering. This recording presents sections of Bach's Musical Offering, including the Trio Sonata, side by side with Trios by both Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philip Emanuel. The intention was to shed light on the familial character of Bach's visit to Potsdam and Berlin in 1747 and it's musical consequences. The importance of this gathering between the three most famous members of the Bach family and the impact it had on their respective lives and careers cannot be overestimated. For Johann Sebastian himself, however, this was to be brief: he died three years later in 1750.

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A musical offering
Ramee Jun 2026
CD
$20.99

Mix & Match

Bach & Pärt / Steinbacher, Koncz, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

PENTATONE

$14.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 25% Feb 10, 2023

Arabella Steinbacher presents works for violin and orchestra by Johann Sebastian Bach and Arvo Pärt, together with violinist Christoph Koncz and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. Bach’s violin concertos have had a very special significance for Steinbacher ever since hearing the A Minor Concerto at the age of four, an experience that made her decide to become a musician. This seminal work is performed here alongside the E Major Violin Concerto and the Double Concerto in D Minor, on which she is joined by violinist Christoph Koncz. The Bach concertos are framed by two of Arvo Pärt’s most profound and enigmatic pieces: Fratres and Spiegel im Spiegel; the former in the version for violin, string orchestra and percussion, the latter rendered in a version for violin and piano, together with Peter von Wienhardt. Bach and Pärt may be centuries apart, but for Steinbacher, they have a spiritual and sacred origin in common, and their music resonates deeply with her. Arabella Steinbacher is a multiple award-winner with an extensive Pentatone discography, including Mozart’s complete violin concertos (2014 and 2021), Four Seasons (Vivaldi & Piazzolla, 2020), Mendelssohn & Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos (2015) and many others. Christoph Koncz and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester make their Pentatone debut.

REVIEWS:

I’ve long been a fan of Steinbacher’s; I’ve raved about her playing in a wide variety of repertoire: Bartok, Brahms, and Hindemith and Britten. Here she plays two Bach Violin Concertos: in E major and A minor, and a Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, with another fine violinist, Christian Kontz. Once again Pentatone provides fine accompaniment: the agile and stylish Stuttgarter Kammerorchester.

Two Arvo Pärt pieces bookend the three Bach concertos. His Fratres comes in many versions; this one, for violin, string orchestra and percussion, is from 1992. This is a suitable prelude to the meat of the program: hushed and reverential, but in the end as dramatic a curtain raiser as a Rossini overture. The final piece, Spiegel im Spiegel, in its original 1978 version for violin and piano, acts as a kind of valedictory encore. Once again, Arabella Steinbacher has a fine partner, in pianist Peter von Wienhard.

-- Music for Several Instruments (Dean Frey)

From the evidence of this new Pentatone album of Bach concertos, Steinbacher's artistry of the violin reveals an ever-increasing maturity. The lovely slender tone, flawless cantabile and sheer love of melody she has displayed in her earlier recordings is still there, along with an increased awareness of the harmonic basis of the great works of music she performs. And her sure hand in shaping the graceful contour of a given melody is more skilled and knowing than ever.

-- Audio Visual Club of Atlanta (Phil Muse)

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Bach & Pärt / Steinbacher, Koncz, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
PENTATONE Feb 2023
CD
~~$19.99~~ $14.99