Great Masters Bach

This disc features a collection of works for viola da gamba by CPE Bach. Soloist Emmanuel Guigues studied viola da gamba with such luminaries as Jordi Savall, Paolo Pandolfo and Christophe Coin. She plays and records with several ensembles, notably the Ricercar Consort, la Simphonie du Marais and Doulce Mémoire. Coming from the family of organists, keyboardist Daniel Isoir studied with such great masters as Marek Jablonski, Claude Frank, Paul Badura-Skoda and Paul Tortelier. In addition to leading his ensemble Petite Symphonie, Isoir also works regularly on projects with the Royaumont Foundation and the Bach Academy.

The talented organist and harpsichordist Maud Gratton is an artist constantly seeking perfection. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she trained with such great masters as Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord) and Louis Robilliard (organ), as well as with Olivier Baumont, Blandine Rannou, Kenneth Weiss, Michel Bouvard, Olivier Latry, and Olivier Trachier.

This fabulous five disc set is replete with some of those old Stokowski warhorses all recorded in absolutely mind boggling Phase 4 sound, overblown perhaps but astounding for its time. Decca's remastering is absolutely magnificent and the discs are jam packed with almost six hours of music. This is another fine memorial to a great conductor who remained astonishingly vital until the very end of his life.

Founded in 1921, The Netherlands Bach Society is the oldest Early Music ensemble in the Netherlands, and possibly in the whole world. Yet along with the musicians, its artistic director Jos van Veldhoven is still continually in search of contemporary ways of presenting this music, whether it be the traditional performances of the St. Matthew Passion in Naarden, other works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) or music by his predecessors, successors, contemporaries and fellow spirits.