Brandenburg Concertos

“For those who prefer modern concert pitch and instruments fitted with all today's mod cons, this recording offers graceful, unhurried performances which convey an atmosphere of chamber music and are refreshingly light footed.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2007

This new set of Bach's most famous concertos does not have to compete with any of the others presently on the market for it is based on sources which predate the fair copy which Bach dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721. It is not the first time that such an enterprise has found its way on to gramophone records and many readers will doubtless remember Thurston Dart's pioneering work, along similar lines of thought, which resulted in recordings issued by Philips during the early 1970s. The differences, both large and small, between Bach's fair copy of the six Brandenburg Concertos and the earlier forms are too numerous to discuss fully in these pages, but they are dealt with in Christopher Hogwood's interesting introductory essay which accompanies the set.

The Gemini Series features an impressive roster of singers, conductors, soloists, and ensembles of international renown, all from the incomparable EMI Classics stable. EMI's rich legacy of recording expertise comes to the fore in performances from the 1960s to the 1990s. Gemini titles are predominantly collections of single composers and fantastic value with well over an hour of music on each CD, making them the ideal place to start or develop a collection of classical music. Each 2-CD set contains over two hours of music for a fantastically low price. Attractively designed and packaged in space-saving brilliant boxes, each set includes three-language booklets with detailed notes on the music.

Under the baton of Reinhard Goebel, the Berlin Barock Solisten releases a spectacular new recording of one of the Baroque era’s most celebrated masterpieces. Thirty years after Goebel’s first reference recording of the Brandenburg Concertos, maestro Goebel and the Berlin Barock Solisten perform the Brandenburgs not only with consummate technique but with thrilling verve, supreme sensitivity and a wealth of dynamic contrasts. Goebel has also incorporated the latest findings of musical scholarship in his recording, for example regarding the choice of instruments.

The Brandenburg Concertos need no introduction – doubtless because they owe their fame to a systematic exploration of a genre recently inherited from the Italians, with a still youthful Bach devising as many different scorings as there are concertos. When he received the manuscript of the six works, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, must have been terrified by their demands, and his musicians even more so! Three centuries later, the cycle is as open as ever to new ‘historically informed’ interpretations, as this set demonstrates. The CD cover represents the importance of numbers in these works eg Concerto No 3 which is scored for three instruments, in 3 time, 3 sections etc. The trumpeter is particularly impressive. Freiburg are recording and touring Bach throughout 2014.

The English Concert is an "authentic performance" ensemble, founded by harpsichordist and conductor Trevor Pinnock in 1973. The group quickly established itself as one of Britain's leading orchestras in the then-young field of performing Baroque works on Baroque instruments. The English Concert and the energetic Pinnock helped put historical performance on the charts. The orchestra has a reputation for stylish, lively, and high-quality music-making. Its sound is light, bright, and clear. Its strings usually employ no vibrato, and its winds have a woody, attractive tone that blends well with strings and with the fortepiano.

If you know and love the Brandenburgs, seriously consider listening to these renditions for piano duo. In the imagination place yourself in the days before recording; hearing these peices in that way will give an idea of what it must have been like to know Bach, to want to hear Bach, to have the muscial skills to play Bach, but have no chamber orchestra at your disposal. A piano or two would do, if you had Reger's transcriptions. Why wait years for the next concert, if you could play them today? And because Reger loved Bach each piece has an air of homage.

For Roy Goodman's various roles in the project assume Toad-like proportions. Founder of the Brandenburg Consort, Goodman is not at all content merely to direct these performances but also plays solo violin, violino piccolo and viola as well as penning lively accompanying notes. Well, readers may rest assured that I'm no Badger and am inclined to applaud Goodman's diversity of talent rather than otherwise.