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Bach: Clavierübung III, Vol. 2
Naxos Jun 1994
CD
$19.99

Bach: Six Trio Sonatas / Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players

Chandos

$10.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 50% Jun 24, 2014

Bach compiled his set of six trio sonatas for organ during the late 1720s. They are thought to have been put together as training material for Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann and can be grouped among other pedagogical keyboard collections such as the Inventions and the Well-Tempered Clavier. They are unique, however, in transferring the typical trio sonata texture, a popular style normally played by ensemble, to a single instrument. In Bach’s originals the right and left hands take the top two parts while the pedals perform the bass line. The first movement of Sonata No. 4 was originally composed for ensemble and the unique formal and stylistic characteristics of the collection suggest that other movements, too, started life away from the organ.

Taking this on board, Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players have re-imagined these works in arrangements for ensemble, using scorings typically adopted in the performance of trio sonatas in Bach’s time. Bach was himself a serial adapter and re-arranger of his own works and this recording takes on his understanding of the musical work as a fluid entity, able to assume as many forms as there are purposes for them.

The Philadelphia-based early music ensemble Tempesta di Mare is renowned for its unique programming and championing of rarely performed works, not least through its fruitful relationship with Chandos Records. - Chandos Records

Arranged for chamber ensemble by Richard Stone.

Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players:
Gwyn Roberts recorder - flauto traverso
Emlyn Ngai violin
Karina Schmitz violin - viola
Lisa Terry cello - viola da gamba
Richard Stone lute
Adam Pearl harpsichord
Recorded in: Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Bach: Six Trio Sonatas / Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players
Chandos Jun 2014
CD
~~$21.99~~ $10.99

C. W. Schumann: Piano Concerto, Trio / Nicolosi, Et Al
Naxos Apr 2005
CD
$19.99

TREASURES OF THE BAROQUE
ALTO Aug 2014
CD
$11.01

Scharwenka: Piano Trios / Gustav Trio

Brilliant Classics

$13.99 Jun 24, 2022

Around a quarter of a century ago, scholars embarked upon fruitful research into composers active between the mid-19th century and the lead-up to World War One, many largely hitherto ignored by all but music historians, consisting of at least two generations who focused either on ‘absolute’ music (in central Europe) or music for the theatre (in Italy and France). Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917) was one such figure. Born to a family with ancient Bohemian roots but determinedly German in its culture, Philipp and his concert pianist brother Xaver attended Berlin’s Neue Akademie der Tonkunst, where Philipp would eventually also teach theory. He began composing in earnest in 1874 and the following year founded his own school with his brother, where he would teach composition for the rest of his life. Philipp Scharwenka’s chamber works, which date mostly from the turn of the century, are some of his most notable compositions and include three piano trios (the first two, recorded here, with violin and cello; the third with violin and viola). The Trio Op.100 in C sharp minor, published by Breitkopf in 1897, unfolds in flowing, measured writing across three movements with a clearly defined formal range. The composition feels like a well-oiled machine, including all the expressive techniques developed over the years in expertly dosed quantities, and sometimes achieving intense – and never long-winded – lyricism. The subsequent Trio in G Op.112, published in 1902, again by Breitkopf, is also in three movements. The work’s tonal regions, while very clear and based on sonata form in both the first and third movements, deviate slightly from the traditional relationships by including the relative minor keys too. This is nothing out of the ordinary: it is simply a way to keep the form compact and flowing while testing out slightly more unusual tonality.

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Scharwenka: Piano Trios / Gustav Trio
Brilliant Classics Jun 2022
CD
$13.99

Mozart: Piano Trios Performing the Autograph Scores / Vienna Mozart-Trio

Gramola Records

$31.99 Oct 15, 2021

The 6 Piano Trios of W. A. Mozart, which were composed in the years 1776, 1786 and 1788, already show the increasing emancipation of the string instruments – while in the first work (1776) the keyboard instrument still predominates, and the two strings take on a more accompanying role, even though in some cases a distinctive one, the relationship between the instruments developed in the five works of the 1780s lead to an approximate equality. The peculiarity of this new recording is that for the first time the autographs, some of which have only recently become available, have been taken into account, which has brought about some changes compared to the previously printed sheet music editions, especially in the area of phrasing and articulation, and thus, the Vienna Mozart-Trio presents an authentic complete recording for the first time with this 2-album set.

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Mozart: Piano Trios Performing the Autograph Scores / Vienna Mozart-Trio
Gramola Records Oct 2021
CD
$31.99

Bach: Leipzig Organ Chorales / Craig F. Humber

MDG

SACD

$37.99 Apr 01, 2010

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Composer and organ builder very nearly get equal billing on this CD. Bach’s name is in larger letters than Silbermann’s on the cover, but the latter gets twice the column inches inside.

Craig Humber is happy for the organ to be the star of the show, or so it seems from the fact that it was he who penned the comprehensive notes about its history and construction. They are an interesting pair J.S. Bach and Gottfried Silbermann; almost exactly contemporaries and equally distinguished, and yet there is no evidence they ever worked together or even met.

Issues then of authenticity, or at least historical verisimilitude, ought by rights to be the starting point for a project like this. They are certainly important motivations for Humber, but he is also at pains to emphasise that traditions of organ building in the 18 ^th century were as diverse as those of performance. So, where Bach borrows freely from courtly dance styles of France, so Silbermann borrows the designs of ‘fiery reed and powerful mutation stops’ from his Gallic contemporaries.

But historical issues aside, the most valid and obvious justification for recording this music on this instrument is that it works supremely well. Bach’s lyrical counterpoint in these, for the most part gentle, works ebbs and flows beautifully when rendered in these warm, restrained timbres. Humber claims to use every stop of the organ at some point on this recording, but he mixes the colours subtly, and his restraint with the mutation stops in particular makes their few appearances all the more effective.

Two discs of Chorale Preludes, even if they are by Bach, can be excessive for a single sitting, and this is music best appreciated in small, but regular, doses. Almost any recording of works in a single genre by a single composer risks monotony, and that can be a particular problem here, as almost every work is slow, quiet and made up of unbroken contrapuntal textures. On the other hand, Humber is to be congratulated for not attempting to sex it up for the sake of impatient listeners. Each of these works functions as a perfect artistic entity, whether heard in a liturgical context or heard in succession, and Humber is happy to present them just like that, with nothing added or subtracted. It is quite a conservative approach, even for an organist, but it’s ideal.

The SACD sound is good, almost too good. The liner-notes make much of the imperfections of the organ, statements which sit uneasily with the balance and evenness of tone in the recording. And how have they managed to avoid excessive resonance from the cathedral acoustic? MDG make a big thing out of their opposition to any kind of digital manipulation, so it can only come down to astute sound engineering on the day – or on the night rather, if the stories I’ve heard about organ recording sessions are anything to go by.

Craig Humber is clearly passionate about the work of Gottfried Silbermann, and he demonstrates on this recording that he has the artistic skills to show off the organ-builder’s work at its very best. A recording project that makes such a feature of its instrumentation is always going to require the highest possible standards of recorded sound. Fortunately, that’s exactly what this one gets.

-- Gavin Dixon, MusicWeb International

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Bach: Leipzig Organ Chorales / Craig F. Humber
MDG Apr 2010
SACD
$37.99

Naxos Bach Edition 3 - Bach: Harpsichord Concertos I / Hill

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 01, 2000

Bach's D minor Concerto BWV 1052 is one of his very greatest works, whether heard in its arrangements for harpsichord solo, violin solo, or even organ solo (first movement) as the prelude to one of the church cantatas. The music has a brooding, almost tragic intensity, partly the result of the tensely stern melodic material, partly due to the fact that all three movements are set in minor keys. It's also a very large work, at more than 20 minutes one of the largest of all Baroque concertos. Robert Hill gives a stunning performance of the work here, comparable to the great recording by his mentor and teacher, Gustav Leonhardt. Unlike many period instrument people, Hill's refusal to rush the outer movements gives the music an extra measure of grim strength, and his deft passagework allows every Bachian note to register with unforced clarity. He's also excellently accompanied by an orchestra of modern strings, and has selected an instrument that allows the music to cut through the accompaniment without the tone ever turning metallic. The antithesis of BWV 1052 is the sunny E major Concerto BWV 1053. It's equally well done by soloist Christoph Anselm Noll. In fact, all four soloists acquit themselves admirably, making this budget priced issue the equal of any other available version of this music. First rate. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Naxos Bach Edition 3 - Bach: Harpsichord Concertos I / Hill
Naxos Jan 2000
CD
$19.99

Schubert: Trout Quintet; Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik / Ax, Guarneri Quartet

RCA

$17.99 Jan 18, 2008

"...Recordings of a work like the Trout always have a problem due to the difficulties of balance between piano and a small string ensemble. In this instance the engineers have avoided the pitfalls and have come up with a good balance. A fresh sounding, lively performance appeals with the important piano part played tastefully by Emanuel Ax and a pleasing degree of shading and contrasts from the strings. Good ensemble playing from a highly regarded group... The String Quintet version of Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik makes a welcome second item. More normally heard in a chamber orchestra version, this minimised Mozart (an option from the time of its composition) is a refreshing change. To hear the five lines (two violin parts not a doubling) is a delight, and the 'authentic' movement of recent years must take some credit for the greater appreciation the reduction gives... [An] attractively compiled CD..." -- Harry Downey, MusicWeb International

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Schubert: Trout Quintet; Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik / Ax, Guarneri Quartet
RCA Jan 2008
CD
$17.99

C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Flute & Fortepiano / Lazarevitch, Taylor

Alpha

$20.99 Mar 11, 2022

With these sonatas by C.P.E. Bach, François Lazarevitch continues the exploration of the jewels of the flute and recorder repertory he has embarked on with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien or as a soloist with recordings of music by Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, and van Eyck. François Lazarevitch and Justin Taylor now bring their sensitivity and virtuosity to bear on the sonatas for flute and obbligato harpsichord of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.

The majority of these works date from the years 1745-66, when he was in the service of the flute-playing King Frederick II. Two solos complete the program: the famous Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied flute and the Fantasia in F# minor for keyboard, which testifies to Emanuel’s improvisational artistry.

Situated at the epicenter of the Enlightenment era, Bach’s second son was the key figure of Empfindsamkeit (Sensibility), the movement that explored the deep and unfathomable stirrings of humanity and nature, countering the learned style of the early eighteenth-century masters with freedom of inspiration and hence emancipation of form. The artist now sought above all to express the impulses of the soul, displaying unexpected traits that sometimes verge on the bizarre.

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C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Flute & Fortepiano / Lazarevitch, Taylor
Alpha Mar 2022
CD
$20.99

BACH: THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR KEYBOARD VOL.10

HARMONIA MUNDI

$28.49 May 23, 2025

After stopping off in Cothen, Benjamin Alard continues his musical journey through the works of J.S. Bach. Here he focuses on the composer's early years in Leipzig, with the six Trio Sonatas, which he performs on harpsichord and clavichord. The famous 'little keyboard book' of Anna Magdalena takes us into the more intimate world of the Kantor's household.

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BACH: THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR KEYBOARD VOL.10
HARMONIA MUNDI May 2025
CD
$28.49

Brahms/Schoenberg: Piano Quartet In G Minor, Bach / Craft

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Jun 06, 2006

This is the most physically exciting account of the work yet made, with a finale not even topped by Craft's remake (for Koch). Of course, there have been many other recordings since this one, including fine ones by Dohnanyí, Järvi, and Eschenbach, and those enjoy more modern sonics; but if you only have room for one version of this piece, then this is it. The addition of the Bach/Schoenberg and Schubert/Webern orchestrations, all very well done, only seals the deal.

It's common to poke fun at Schoenberg's opulent orchestration of the Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor, but the arrangement's sometimes gaudy colors make an interesting and valid point about Brahms' music in general, namely that you will find a wider range of forms and melodic archetypes in the chamber music than in the symphonies (leaving aside the larger quantity of the former as compared with the latter). Had Brahms found room in his symphonies for the marches and Hungarian tunes with which he liberally peppers this quartet, he might have felt duty-bound to score them much as Schoenberg does here (well, almost), with entertaining if "un-symphonic" results.

In other words, in his symphonies Brahms (over)compensates for the orchestra's tendency toward programmatic musical display with material that, however beautiful, suggests no such possibility. He feels safe using such material in chamber music precisely because the medium forces the composer to stylize and refine the original and reduce it to its bare musical essence. The danger of distracting programmatic suggestiveness is much less.

All of this is a long way of saying that in its way Schoenberg's orchestration is quite faithful to Brahms' music, and once you get past the enthusiastic brass and kooky percussion, what really stands out is the clarity of the part-writing, the result of a handling of the woodwind section that really is more Schoenberg than Brahms. Certainly this is one of the most striking elements in Robert Craft's now-legendary recording of this work, one in which he has the Chicago Symphony playing the living daylights out of the music.

Questions of musicological rigor aside, this also is the most physically exciting account of the work yet made, with a finale not even topped by Craft's remake (for Koch). Of course, there have been many other recordings since this one, including fine ones by Dohnanyí, Järvi, and Eschenbach, and those enjoy more modern sonics; but if you only have room for one version of this piece, then this is it. The addition of the Bach/Schoenberg and Schubert/Webern orchestrations, all very well done, only seals the deal. A classic returns! [10/9/2006]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Brahms/Schoenberg: Piano Quartet In G Minor, Bach / Craft
Sony Masterworks Jun 2006
CD
$11.98

Beethoven: The Piano Trios, Vol. 2

Alpha

$20.99 May 22, 2026

For this second volume of their complete Beethoven piano trios, the Busch Trio illustrates the great variety that the composer was able to draw from an ensemble of just three instruments. The Trio in G Major, begun in 1793, is the second of three published in Vienna as Opus 1. The Trio in E Flat, WoO 38, was written in 1790-1791 in Bonn: it is unusual in that it has three movements in the same key and no slow movement. The charming Allegretto in E Flat was written by a young Beethoven experimenting. The Allegretto in B Flat, WoO 39, takes us back to 1812, the era of the famous 'Archduke Trio'. Finally, the Variations in E Flat Major, Op. 44, are a series of variations on arias from a little-known opera by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. 'When practising, rehearsing, and performing Beethoven's works, it is impossible not to be overcome by the joy, courage, the love for life and humanity,' conclude the musicians of the Busch Trio.

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Beethoven: The Piano Trios, Vol. 2
Alpha May 2026
CD
$20.99

Mix & Match

Bach: Orchestral Suites 2 & 3; Chaconne - Transcribed for Organ / Wolfgang Rübsam

Brilliant Classics

$6.99 ~~$13.99~~ Save 50% Nov 17, 2023

Over the course of more than half a century, Wolfgang Rübsam has consistently brought new insights to bear on the keyboard music of Bach, firstly in sets of the canonic organ music for Philips, then the same for Naxos. In the last few years, his musicianship and understanding of Bach enriched by those decades of experience, he has turned to the harpsichord/piano repertoire for Brilliant Classics. A series of critically acclaimed albums has shed new light on The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas and Toccatas with Rübsam’s performance of them on a lautenwerk – a ‘lute-harpsichord’ with a distinctive chime and colour which Bach himself would have been familiar with. Rübsam now returns to the organ, with new transcriptions and recordings of two Orchestral Suites and Chaconne from the D minor Partita for solo violin. While the Chaconne has attracted transcribers and arrangers ever since the 19th century, drawn magnetically to its evolving variations on a ground bass which accumulate an emotional power unusual even for Bach, the Orchestral Suites are much less often encountered outside their original garb. Yet we can be sure that Bach himself would have embraced Rübsam’s idea with enthusiasm. The Suites themselves are compilations of dances, probably not all originally designed for their eventual destination as high-class entertainment music for the concert series at Café Zimmermann in Leipzig, and Bach repurposed some of their movements as sinfonias and even choruses for his church cantatas. As in his fairly free transcription of the Chaconne, Rübsam has made full use of the instrument at his disposal, a magnificent Casavant instrument (1998) at the Church of St. Louis, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The booklet includes a full disposition for the organ as well as an essay introducing both the works and Rübsam’s uniquely imaginative approach to them. ‘If the sound of the lute-harpsichord highlights Bach’s debt to French lute music, especially in the First Prelude, the instrument clarifies that homage while Rübsam’s interpretation transcends it.’ (Fanfare, November 2018, The Well-Tempered Clavier, 96750)

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Bach: Orchestral Suites 2 & 3; Chaconne - Transcribed for Organ / Wolfgang Rübsam
Brilliant Classics Nov 2023
CD
~~$13.99~~ $6.99

Bridge: Piano Trio No 2, Phantasie Trio, Miniatures / Wass, Liebeck, Chaushian

Naxos

$19.99 Feb 24, 2009

BRIDGE Piano Trios: No. 1, “Phantasie”; No. 2. Miniatures: Set 1; Set 2; Set 3 • Ashley Wass (pn); Jack Liebeck (vn); Alexander Chaushian (vc) • NAXOS 8.570792 (72:47)

The half-hour Bridge Second Trio (1929) is one of the best things he ever wrote, some of the very strongest British chamber music of its time, along with Bridge’s own last two quartets. The opening is unforgettably bleak, and a ripe expressionist drama unfolds. It is not as “advanced” as the music Webern and Schoenberg were writing 20 years earlier, yet at the same time it almost prefigures Shostakovich. Sound here is very good, and the playing has great commitment, concentration, and fleetness of foot. But the very stiff competition includes a live 1963 version with Britten, Menuhin, and Gendron, as well as a fine, cheap Helios disc.

Compared to the Trio No. 2, the rest of the CD offers salon music. The “Phantasie” Trio is much like the other Cobbett Prize-winning pieces by various composers, and it sounds faded to my ears, though these players give it everything. The Miniatures are slight character studies in late-19th century style, but they may be the disc’s main selling point for Bridge collectors. The Dussek Trio’s 1995 version is good, but these Naxos players make a strong case for the Miniatures , and the sound is better. This performance of the Second Trio won’t disappoint you either, if you get the Naxos disc for the other repertoire; though if you already have the Lyrita or Helios recordings, rest easy. If you have no Bridge Second Trio, do get the Britten version on BBC, even if you buy none of the other CDs. The new disc is highly recommended to admirers of the composer—two different composers, really, early and late, as this CD vividly demonstrates.

FANFARE: Paul Ingram

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Bridge: Piano Trio No 2, Phantasie Trio, Miniatures / Wass, Liebeck, Chaushian
Naxos Feb 2009
CD
$19.99

Little Books / Francesco Corti

Arcana

$20.99 Oct 09, 2020

A world renowned international soloist and harpsichord teacher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Francesco Corti embarks a collaboration with Arcana with a musical journey through the manuscripts of the Bach family, beginning with the two books belonging to Johann Sebastian’s brother (the Moller and Andreas Bach manuscripts) and leading to the famous Buchleine for Anna Magdalena and Wilhelm Friedemann. The programme presents three major keyboard works by J.S. Bach that are preserved in ‘domestic’ copies. Combined with works by the most important musical figures in Bach’s musical life: Bohm, one of his teachers; Kuhnau, his predecessor as Thomaskantor; Telemann, friend and godfather to Bach’s second son Carl Philipp Emanuel; Hasse and Francois Couperin. The resulting programme is an unconventional Bachian harpsichord recital, a mixture of different genres and composers, that is probably much closer to the ‘home concert’ of the period than to the standard modern recital.

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Little Books / Francesco Corti
Arcana Oct 2020
CD
$20.99

Bach: Music for Guitar / Georgi Dimitrov-Jojo

Naxos

$19.99 Apr 26, 2024

On this latest release in the Guitar Laureate series, Georgi Dimitrov-Jojo, winner of the 2022 European Bach Guitar Award, presents a selection of works transcribed for guitar from the rich repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach. Dimitrov-Jojo’s beautiful sound and poetic interpretations bring an intimate connection to Bach’s boundless imagination, crowned in this substantial programme by the famous Ciaconna, BWV 1004.

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Bach: Music for Guitar / Georgi Dimitrov-Jojo
Naxos Apr 2024
CD
$19.99

Piano Trios

Kontrapunkt

$22.99 Jun 15, 1994

Though they are still in their late 20s, The Copenhagen Trio is celebrating its 10th anniversary next year. Started playing together as teen-agers while still at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, their extraordinary talent was soon recognized by the critics and the public alike. The Copenhagen Trio has been active in giving concerts in major cities of Europe and later this month they are performing at the Wigmore Hall in London. in recording. This their sixth CD on Kontrapunkt includes very rarely recorded Trio Élégiaque G Minor.

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Piano Trios
Kontrapunkt Jun 1994
CD
$22.99

Bach: Guitar Transcriptions / Ivannikov

Brilliant Classics

$16.99 Jul 22, 2022

Bach’s music is often described as indestructible, in the sense that no matter how it is performed, or in whichever arrangement, its essential spirit survives. Therefore transcriptions of the Master’s works are common, today as they were in Bach’s time (Bach (1685-1750) himself was an ardent transcriber!). This new recording presents instrumental works by Bach transcribed for and played on the modern guitar. The selection includes works written originally for lute BWV 996, 997 and 998, and the Sonata BWV 1003 and Partita BWV 1004, originally written for solo violin. Arcady Ivannikov is one of Russia’s leading guitarists, a key figure in the popularization of his instrument in his home country, having organized numerous concerts and festivals.

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Bach: Guitar Transcriptions / Ivannikov
Brilliant Classics Jul 2022
CD
$16.99

J.S. Bach: The Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530

Opus Arte

$19.99 Apr 28, 2015

Acclaimed for his ‘extraordinary top notes’ (Guardian), Mexican singer Jesus Leon is one of today’s most exciting lyric tenors.For his recording debut, he presents a selection of his favorite bel canto arias, uniting three 19th c. giants of Italian opera in a dramatic and expressive program revealing his sweet, light and flexible voice.‘‘…his light tenor was mellifluous in its phrasing and even in tone.’ (Seen & Heard Int’l) {Don Giovanni/Garsington Opera}‘‘…a voice with a homogeneous color and secure high tessitura…’ (Der Opernfreund) {Maria di Rohan/Radialsystem Theater, Berlin}

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J.S. Bach: The Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530
Opus Arte Apr 2015
CD
$19.99

J.S. Bach: Concertos for 1, 2, 3, 4 Keyboards - Idil Biret A

Idil Biret Archive

$19.99 Feb 07, 2025

Idil Biret was introduced very early to the music of Bach. At the age of three she was trying to play from ear the preludes of Bach from the Well Tempered Clavier which her mother played on their upright piano and drawing his picture in her note book. In her memoires, Idil's mother Leman Biret writes: "After listening for a while to orchestral music on the radio Idil would detect the main melody and then play it on the piano with one finger. Afterwards, when she reached the age of four, she would play these on the piano with two hands and with the correct harmony. Bach preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier, for example, which even the talented musicians took considerable time to study and memorise, were mastered by Idil in only a few days after listening once or twice, after which she would play these without a single wrong note. "Then, at the age of four her teacher Mithat Fenmen played for Idil on an 78rpm record by Edwin Fischer the Prelude and Fugue in F minor from the Well Tempered Clavier Book II. She says that Bach's music has been a part of her life ever since that day. In 1946, at the age of five, she played the D Minor Piano Concerto of Bach with a string quartet at the Ankara Radio, a work that would be a staple of her concert programs from then on. "The remarkable evening began with D Minor Piano Concerto of J.S. Bach. The concerto required, from the very first measure, agile, precise dexterity from the pianist. Idil Biret took the challenge with a ravishing pulse which carried one away. How this artist combines the strict discipline of the score with the capacity to build sovereign forms is exemplary. Energetically, she drove the flanking Allegro movements forward and dwelled on the song like beauties of the Adagio with concentrated abandon." Dietrich Wolf DRESDNER NEUESTE NACHRICHTEN (Germany) 1996

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J.S. Bach: Concertos for 1, 2, 3, 4 Keyboards - Idil Biret A
Idil Biret Archive Feb 2025
CD
$19.99

The Bach Family Album / Aulos Ensemble

Centaur Records

$18.99 Oct 01, 2010

THE BACH FAMILY ALBUM • Aulos Ens (period instruments) • CENTAUR 3068 (63:43)

J. C. BACH Quintet in D, op.22. J. S. BACH Aria, BWV 988; Minuets: BWV Anh.114 & 115; Polonaises: BWV Anh.123 & 125; Musette, BWV Anh.126. C. P. E. BACH Trio Sonata in G, Wq 144; Oboe Sonata in g, Wq 135. J. C. F. BACH Trio in c

"Founded in 1973, the Aulos Ensemble is one of America’s oldest period-instrument chamber groups, if not the oldest. The same five musicians have been with the group since the beginning: Christopher Krueger, Baroque flute; Marc Schachman, Baroque oboe; Linda Quan, Baroque violin; Myron Lutzke, Baroque cello; and Arthur Haas, harpsichord. Their Bach Family Album contains an imaginative selection—rather than programming major works of Old Bach, they have decided to include several short excerpts from the Clavier-Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach , arranged to suit the personnel. The famous Aria that begins the Goldberg Variations , for example, is presented here as a cello solo, expressively played by Myron Lutzke. All the other numbers are performed en symphonie with each member given a solo turn.

The bulk of the program is entrusted to three of the Bach sons, including one you don’t hear much about: Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–95), the so-called “Bückeburg Bach” and the oldest surviving son of Anna Magdalena. His trio for harpsichord, flute, and oboe is a vigorous but ultimately lightweight affair firmly planted in the late galant style. The writing pairs flute and oboe, often in thirds, against solo harpsichord. The Bach son conspicuous by his absence on the program is Wilhelm Friedemann; I would have gladly traded the Friedrich Bach trio for anything by Friedemann.

Johann Christian Bach’s quintet is a bit more substantial; it has been recorded at least once before on period instruments, by members of the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock in the late 80s. The work’s instrumentation is tailor-made for the Aulos Ensemble and they do it justice.

In the 18th century, the term “trio sonata” meant basically any work written for two instruments and basso continuo; the choice of melody instruments was often left to the performers. For its performance of the Emanuel Bach trio sonata, the Aulos Ensemble has chosen flute and violin for the upper parts, and the two instruments offset each other quite nicely. The performance is all one could wish for: idiomatic and expressive.

I am especially gratified to see that Marc Schachman was granted a solo spot on the CD. He is widely regarded as one of the leading Baroque oboists, but there are precious few examples of his playing on disc. His performance of the Emanuel Bach oboe sonata is authoritative and filled with delicious sounds.

The recorded sound is generally good, with excellent balance between the instruments. The rich-sounding harpsichord is given prominence when called for, as in the Christian Bach quintet. Recommended."

FANFARE: Christopher Brodersen

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The Bach Family Album / Aulos Ensemble
Centaur Records Oct 2010
CD
$18.99

J. S. Bach: Dritter Theil der Clavier Ubung

Arcana

$29.99 Aug 14, 2026

According to his first biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach possessed an extraordinary ability to combine organ stops in a wholly unusual manner, astonishing the organists and organ builders of his time. However, very few accounts survive of how he actually made these timbral choices. A valuable source of information is the Harmonische Seelenlust by Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1733-36), a large collection of chorale preludes that displays striking points of contact with the third part of the Clavier-ubung (1739) - to the point of appearing almost as a model for it - and includes registrations so original and bold as to recall the style described by Forkel. Having already distinguished himself with the award-winning Bach Mirrored (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik), organist Maurizio Croci draws on the timbral resources of the historic Treutmann organ at Grauhof (1737) to offer us a fresh reading of Bach's masterpiece which, taking inspiration from Kauffmann's registrations, places registration at the centre of expressive interpretation and proposes a renewed listening perspective.

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J. S. Bach: Dritter Theil der Clavier Ubung
Arcana Aug 2026
CD
$29.99

Bach's Musical Offerings / Klaassens, Calefax Reed Quintet

PENTATONE

SACD

$21.99 Oct 09, 2020

The Dutch reed quintet Calefax celebrates 35 years of adventurous and versatile musicianship with a collection of Musical Offerings from Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by the ensemble’s saxophonist Raaf Hekkema. Arthur Klaassens joins the ensemble on a lupophone and English horn for Musikalisches Opfer, the main course of this programme, as well as for the 14 Canons, BWV 1087, creating a unique blend of wind instruments. The album concludes with Bach’s Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, BWV 769, a piece full of allusions to Christmas-related Bach pieces, including references to his Christmas Oratorio. Bach’s Musical Offerings is Calefax’ third PENTATONE release, after the well-received Dido & Aeneazz (2019), a virtuosic and eclectic recomposition of Purcell’s famous opera performed with trumpetist Eric Vloeimans, as well as Hidden Gems (2018), showcasing the quintet’s versatility with pieces ranging from Corelli and Satie to Nina Simone.

REVIEW:

For those who are intrigued by different readings of Bach’s masterpiece, this is one of the most piquant and unusual, with the composer’s matchless counterpoint given the closest possible attention The Dutch reed quintet’s take on Bach, arranged by the ensemble’s saxophonist Raaf Hekkema. Arthur Klaassens further expands the ensemble’s sonic palette by joining them on lupophone and cor anglaise for Musikalisches Opfer, the main course of this programme, as well as for 14 Canons, BWV 1087. The album concludes with Bach’s Canonic variations on Von Himmel hoch. All nine known versions of the melody have found a place in Raaf’s arrangement, resulting in a many-coloured Christmas collage.

-- Classical CD Choice (Barry Forshaw)

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Bach's Musical Offerings / Klaassens, Calefax Reed Quintet
PENTATONE Oct 2020
SACD
$21.99

Saint-Georges: Three Sonatas for Violin & Fortepiano, Op. 1b / McIntosh, Vanhauwaert

Olde Focus Recordings

$20.99 Nov 17, 2023

Violinist Andrew McIntosh and fortepianist Steven Vanhauwaert collaborated on a historically important volume of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint Georges's Op. 1b sonatas on Olde Focus Recordings. Interest in Bologne's music has surged in recent years, exposing contemporary audiences to his refined catalogue. These works were published in 1781 during the height of his career, are in two movements each, and reflect Bologne's grounding in the elegant grave of late 18th century aesthetics.

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Saint-Georges: Three Sonatas for Violin & Fortepiano, Op. 1b / McIntosh, Vanhauwaert
Olde Focus Recordings Nov 2023
CD
$20.99