J. S. Scott

This 1963 album is more than just another set of jazz variations on Broadway show tunes. The carefully chosen repertoire mixes the familiar and the little-known. The arrangements – for the unusual instrumentation of five bones and rhythm section-are distinctive. And the Trombone work of J.J. Johnson is, as always in a class by itself.

J.S. Bach - St. Matthew Passion (1742 version)
Dunedin Consort & Players
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz: 2,69 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Linn Records # CKD 313 | Country/Year: UK 2008
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Sacred | Source: Linn Records

This wonderful new recording of the St Matthew Passion is the first to adopt Bach's final revisions to the score as performed in 1742. Most casual listeners may not be able to identify the departure in scoring from the most commonly performed 1736 version: which amounts to the replacement of organ with harpsichord in the second orchestra, and an additional viola da gamba in a recitative and aria. However, where this recording really stands out is in the size of the vocal forces. A total of eight singers are employed, therefore providing just four voices for each of the two choirs. This arrangement clearly has potential disadvantages for those of us raised on the full chorus monumental direction from the likes of Richter and Klemperer…

Despite his Italian name, Mario Bernardi was a native-born Canadian and one of his country's leading conductors. His family sent him back to the Old Country to study music as a child, though, and this was through the entirety of World War II. He studied piano, organ, and composition at the Manzato Conservatory in Treviso (1938 - 1945) and the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice (1945). Young Bernardi returned to Canada after the war to complete his studies in piano and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (1948 - 1951).