If I was buying one JS Bach recording, which should it be?
Posted by: hungryhalibut on 29 April 2006
While painting doors downstairs, I have been listening to Radio 3 a lot. I keep hearing bits of Bach and thinking 'that's good'.
I heard one piece the other day and bought it only to discover that it was by CPE Bach, JS's son. I'll probably find that the critical view is that CPE Bach is crap, but I like it. So I still need one JS Bach CD.
Which should I buy, at a sensible price? Only one mind.
I hope this choice does not cause Fredrik any angst!!
Nigel
Posted on: 03 May 2006 by hungryhalibut
quote:
for something a little different you could do worse than try Edgar Meyer playing the cello suites arranged for double bass, it seems to be difficult to get hold of now but very worth the effort.
Huw
I have just won a copy of this on US eBay for $15.50 and will report back. I'm very pleased with that.
Nigel
Posted on: 03 May 2006 by Cosmoliu
quote:
'Tis already done! Dispatached by Amazon and on its way to sunny Emsworth.
Nigel
Nigel,
After all this, I decided to pull out my cherished copy and revisit it this evening. At the risk of seeming presumptuous, I would like to make a few suggestions on approaching the three Partitas.
You might find it a bit of a slog to put the CD on and sit through the entire 77 minutes. If not, great, and you are truly hooked. On the other hand, rather than let the CD slip into the role of background music, you may want to get aquainted with it a little at a time. To that end, you might want to go to the Chaconne (Ciaccona, cut 13), which is the best known of all movements off this set, often performed as a stand alone piece. (The Preludio, which leads off the third Partita, is the other well known movement, and you may actually recognize the tune.) As you get to know the Ciaccona and some of its intricacies of musical line, you will begin to get a handle on how towering an achievement the music and this performance really is. I would then recommend getting to know the second Partita in its entirety, then the other two.
I hope you grow to love the music as much as I have.
Regards,
Norman
Posted on: 03 May 2006 by Wugged Woy
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmoliu:
Nigel,
After all this, I decided to pull out my cherished copy and revisit it this evening. At the risk of seeming presumptuous, I would like to make a few suggestions on approaching the three Partitas.
You might find it a bit of a slog to put the CD on and sit through the entire 77 minutes. If not, great, and you are truly hooked. On the other hand, rather than let the CD slip into the role of background music, you may want to get aquainted with it a little at a time. To that end, you might want to go to the Chaconne (Ciaccona, cut 13), which is the best known of all movements off this set, often performed as a stand alone piece. (The Preludio, which leads off the third Partita, is the other well known movement, and you may actually recognize the tune.) As you get to know the Ciaccona and some of its intricacies of musical line, you will begin to get a handle on how towering an achievement the music and this performance really is. I would then recommend getting to know the second Partita in its entirety, then the other two.
I hope you grow to love the music as much as I have.
Regards,
Norman
Perfectly put. Nice post Norman.
Posted on: 04 May 2006 by Cosmoliu
Thanks very much, Woy.
Norman
PS,
Actually, what made me think to post a brief "guide" was that when I first listened to the Goldberg Variations a couple of years ago, I didn't warm up to it immediately. Perhaps it was because I was not introduced to it in my youth. At any rate, as a totally new piece, it was pretty overwhelming at first, and it took a good dozen listenings to get into it. However, once I began to hear the incredible interweaving of lines and wonder at how ten fingers could possibly convey so much content, I began to acquire more copies just to hear what different performers did with it. Now hardly two or three evenings pass without putting one or another of the versions on to listen, and I always find a new revelation. So, if I, not exactly a Bach newbie, found a new work confusing, I thought anyone new to the unaccompanied violin works could use some help.
Posted on: 04 May 2006 by Cosmoliu
quote:
Originally posted by sjust:
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmoliu:
I have Julia Fischer's well reviewed Unaccompanied Violin Sonatas and Partitas on order and look forward to seeing how it compares with my other half dozen or so versions.
Norman
Norman,
my (personally signed... druel...) copy of her partitas and sonatas are high ranking in MY list of versions. Amongst the rising (and falling) violin stars, my hope is that she'll stay for a little longer. Very serious woman...
cheers
Stefan
Stefan,
My copy just arrived: Wow, this young woman can really play that fiddle! Burned through the third Partita's Preludio like there's no tomorrow. Hard to say, but if Viktoria Mullova's Partitas remain my favorite rendition, it won't be by much. I was reading in the liner notes about how she picked up the piano arrangement of the Chaconne by Busoni to explore the music in a different way. I remember reading an interview in Strings Magazine where she said she thinks it is necessary for a serious violinist to be accomplished on the piano. Multitalented and multifaceted as well.
My first Pentatone Classics recording: great sonics. I need to check out more releases on this label.
Norman
Posted on: 04 May 2006 by Cosmoliu
And the SACD layer is even better, about the first time I have ever actually thought I could hear a significant difference. The SACD layer has more hall ambience information, a more "woody" sound to the violin's resonant cavity, and a general decrease in digital hash. There may be something to SACD after all, if the medium survives. By the continued releases in the format, as opposed to the essentially dead DVD-A, particularly in classical music, maybe it actually will.
Norman
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by hungryhalibut
My first three recordings have arrved from Amazon:
Trevor Pinnock's Brandenburg Concertos
Victoria Mullova's Concertos and Partitas
Angela Hewitt's Goldberg Variations
I have listened to some of each and all are really enjoyable; I paricularly like the Goldbergs. I fell asleep during the Partitas, but that was because it was too late at night rather than any reflection on the playing!
Thanks to all for the recommendations - and I've still got a couple more to come, including the Fischer and Meyer recordings.
Nigel
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by u5227470736789439
Dear Nigel!
Fantastic! Beware that if you listen to and study Bach for a very long time you might end up just like me! [Low bandwidth smiley]. Fredrik
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by hungryhalibut
quote:
Fantastic! Beware that if you listen to and study Bach for a very long time you might end up just like me! [Low bandwidth smiley]. Fredrik
Fredrick
I'm sure there are many worse things that could happen.
Nigel
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by sjust
quote:
Originally posted by Cosmoliu:
And the SACD layer is even better, about the first time I have ever actually thought I could hear a significant difference. The SACD layer has more hall ambience information, a more "woody" sound to the violin's resonant cavity, and a general decrease in digital hash. There may be something to SACD after all, if the medium survives. By the continued releases in the format, as opposed to the essentially dead DVD-A, particularly in classical music, maybe it actually will.
Norman
Phew !
Great you like it, too, Norman. It's always a bit risky to recommend (highly "competitive") music in public, and the person who buys after your recommendation thinks "why the hell..."
Re:sonics / Yes, very natural recording. Actually, the Fischer recording is as much on the "woody"
side as it gets for me. ALL other recordings have the emphasis more on the metallic side.
re:SACD - can't judge that.
cheers
Stefan
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by RiNo
quote:
Trevor Pinnock's Brandenburg Concertos
Victoria Mullova's Concertos and Partitas
Angela Hewitt's Goldberg Variations
Hmmm, is the music good through SL2s?
Creme de la creme
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by hungryhalibut
quote:
Hmmm, is the music good through SL2s?
Nah - they are complete rubbish.
Nigel
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by Wugged Woy
quote:
Originally posted by hungryhalibut:
I fell asleep during the Partitas, but that was because it was too late at night rather than any reflection on the playing!
Nigel
Persevere Nigel, persevere ! (See Cosmoliu's earlier advice !) WW.
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by Wugged Woy
quote:
Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:
Dear Nigel!
Fantastic! Beware that if you listen to and study Bach for a very long time you might end up just like me! [Low bandwidth smiley]. Fredrik
Frederik,
It's interesting to note that all the musicians I know (of shall we say more mature years) often have flirtations with other composers i.e. Mozart, Brahms, but ultimately 'return' to Bach as the master.
There's so much more to Bach than what most people initially hear. It takes a little effort for the riches to unfold, but it's certainly worth it.
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by RiNo
quote:
Nah - they are complete rubbish.
Nigel
Dam, I wanted a pair of those...
Still, the Mullova Bach is next on my list (together wit the Hantai Goldberg!, Hewitt Wholtemperierte I&II and L'Archet d'Or Series Three)
Posted on: 06 May 2006 by u5227470736789439
quote:
Originally posted by Wugged Woy:
Fredrik,
It's interesting to note that all the musicians I know (of shall we say more mature years) often have flirtations with other composers i.e. Mozart, Brahms, but ultimately 'return' to Bach as the master.
There's so much more to Bach than what most people initially hear. It takes a little effort for the riches to unfold, but it's certainly worth it.
Dear Woy,
There is no end to Bach, at least for us lesser mortals. There are others who are great and sometimes very often, but Bach seems never to make a mistake. The breadth of it is only matched by the depth of it!
And the involvement only grows. It is good that he is not really treated like Shakespeare, being taught to children, or he would be less appreciated, I suspect!
Fredrik
Listening to Haydn's 88th in G. Haydn is my other hero... Actually I had better start again...
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by Wugged Woy
quote:
Originally posted by hungryhalibut:
My first three recordings have arrved from Amazon:
Trevor Pinnock's Brandenburg Concertos
Victoria Mullova's Concertos and Partitas
Angela Hewitt's Goldberg Variations
I have listened to some of each and all are really enjoyable; I paricularly like the Goldbergs. I fell asleep during the Partitas, but that was because it was too late at night rather than any reflection on the playing!
Nigel
Nigel,
How have you got on with the Partitas recently ? Love 'em or still turned off ?
