Masaaki Suzuki

Bach Collegium Japan & Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245 (2020)

Bach Collegium Japan & Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245 (2020)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+log+.cue) - 522 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 254 Mb | Digital booklet | 01:45:28
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: BIS

Suzuki presents the 1749 version of the St. John Passion, a work that underwent many changes since its first performance in 1724. This fourth version, performed at the end of Bach's life, represents his ultimate vision of this great work. (Suzuki includes in an appendix three arias from the 1725 version that Bach removed from this later version.)
Masaaki Suzuki, Tapiola Sinfonietta - Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite; Apollon Musagète; Concerto in D for Strings (2016)

Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite; Apollon Musagète; Concerto in D for Strings (2016)
Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 277 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 153 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | # BIS-SACD-2211 | Time: 01:04:55

Masaaki Suzuki is firmly established as a leading authority on the works of Bach, both in his capacity as director of the Bach Collegium Japan and as an organist and harpsichordist. In recent years he has also been appearing in front of eminent orchestras worldwide, however, conducting repertoire as diverse as Britten, Fauré or Mahler. For his first recording of 20th century repertoire, Suzuki has chosen to collaborate with the acclaimed Tapiola Sinfonietta in an all-Stravinsky programme. The disc begins with the music for Pulcinella – here in the concert suite devised by the composer – which Stravinsky later described as ‘the epiphany through which the whole of my later work became possible’. Pulcinella was commissioned in 1919 by the Ballets Russes, for which Stravinsky had already written The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. For this adaptation of an early eighteenth-century commedia dell'arte libretto, he based his score on existing music, initially ascribed to Pergolesi although material by other baroque composers is also included.

Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord (2002)  Music

Posted by tirexiss at Feb. 3, 2023
Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord (2002)

Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord (2002)
XLD | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:40:55 | 1,1 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | Catalog: 1313/4

Listeners familiar with other recordings in Masaaki Suzuki's ongoing traversal of Bach's solo keyboard works may find his performances of the Partitas somewhat of an anomaly. For instance, the sharply delineated juxtapositions of tempos that made his Fantasias and Fugues program so thrilling (type Q3840 in Search Reviews) are nowhere to be heard here. The interpretive agenda this time is much subtler and decidedly more introverted.
Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Italian Concerto, French Overture, Sonata in D minor (2006)

Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Italian Concerto, French Overture, Sonata in D minor (2006)
XLD | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:09:12 | 529 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | Catalog: 1469

Strong but delicate, deliberate but subtle, driven but supple, Masaaki Suzuki's 2005 recording of Bach's Italian Concerto and French Overture for harpsichord are quite convincing in their own distinctive way. In Suzuki's hands, the opening crash of the Italian Concerto is as instantly arresting as the powerful opening prelude and fugue from the French Overture is immediately appealing.
Yale Institute of Sacred Music & Masaaki Suzuki - Bruhns: Cantatas & Organ Works, Vol. 1 (2022)

Yale Institute of Sacred Music & Masaaki Suzuki - Bruhns: Cantatas & Organ Works, Vol. 1 (2022)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 417 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 202 Mb | Digital booklet | 01:25:54
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: BIS

When he died, Nicolaus Bruhns was just 31 years old, and only twelve of his vocal works and five organ compositions have survived. On the strength of these, he is nevertheless considered one of the most prominent North German composers of the generation between Buxtehude and Bach. Buxtehude was in fact Bruhns teacher, and thought so highly of him that recommended him for a position in Copenhagen. There he worked as a violin virtuoso and composer until 1689, when he returned to Northern Germany to become organist in the main church of Husum. It was here that most if not all of the extant works were performed.
Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan - Heinrich Schütz: Geistliche Chormusik (1997)

Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan - Heinrich Schütz: Geistliche Chormusik (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 531 Mb | Total time: 121:43 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BIS Records | # BIS-831 CD | Recorded: 1997

By 1648, Heinrich Schuetz was both a survivor and a relic of his own past glory. The 63-year-old devout Lutheran had survived the religious slaughter of the Thirty Years War, which had killed more than half of the musicians of his German world. Surely the most influential composer of German history, he had also outlasted his own impact on the next generation of German composers, patrons, and audiences, who unjustly regarded his music as outdated. Who knows how he felt about his growing isolation, but it's interesting that he chose to compose one of his grandest and greatest accomplishments - the Geistliche Chormusik 1648, op. 11 - in the antiquated contrapuntal style of Renaissance vocal polyphony, the prima prattica, rather than the operatic Italianate seconda prattica he himself had introduced to German music.

Masaaki Suzuki - Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works (2015)  Music

Posted by Designol at June 1, 2023
Masaaki Suzuki - Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works (2015)

Masaaki Suzuki - Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works (2015)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 370 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 185 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | # BIS-SACD-2111 | Time: 01:19:26

For this hybrid SACD of famous organ works by J.S. Bach, Masaaki Suzuki plays the restored Schnitger-Hinz organ in the Martinikerk (Martin's Church), in Groningen, one of the most celebrated instruments in the Netherlands and one which dates back to Bach's time. Its bright, Baroque sonorities and Suzuki's historically informed interpretations give these performances a compelling sense of authenticity and period style. The pieces are among Bach's greatest hits, particularly the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which gives the program a decisive opening. Following that flashy demonstration, Suzuki is relaxed and almost contemplative in the Pastorale in F major, and continues his thoughtful readings in the Partita on "O Gott, du frommer Gott," the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, and the Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her." Yet he includes two sparkling virtuoso performances in the Fantasia in G major and the Prelude and Fugue in E minor, which keep the album from being too soft and subdued. BIS' super audio sound is crisp and detailed, which is no mean feat in a church recording.
Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan - Bach & Beyond [15 CDs] (2010)

Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan - Bach & Beyond: Monteverdi, Schütz, Buxtehude, Ahle, Kuhnau, Zelenka, Vivaldi, Handel, CPE Bach [15 CDs] (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 4,75 Gb | Total time: 16:29:11 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BIS | # BIS-CD-9036/39 | Recorded: 1997-2010

Widely regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Bach's music today, Masaaki Suzuki has made his name both as the artistic director of the Bach Collegium Japan and as a performer on the harpsichord and the organ. Much interest has been focussed on the BCJ/Suzuki series of Bach Cantatas, begun in 1995 and reaching its final stretch with the recent release of Volume 46 (of a projected 55 discs). Hailed by the international music press, this monumental undertaking has acquired a world-wide following. From the very beginning of the collaboration with BIS, however, there have been numerous recording projects beyond the sacred cantatas of Johannes Sebastian, and, indeed, beyond Bach himself. Some of these acclaimed recordings can now be found in a limited edition boxed set, released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Bach Collegium Japan this year.
Yale Institute of Sacred Music & Masaaki Suzuki - Bruhns: Cantatas & Organ Works, Vol. 1 (2022) [Digital Download 24/96]

Yale Institute of Sacred Music & Masaaki Suzuki - Bruhns: Cantatas & Organ Works, Vol. 1 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Front Cover & Digital Booklet | Time - 85:54 minutes | 1,56 GB
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: BIS, Official Digital Download

When he died, Nicolaus Bruhns was just 31 years old, and only twelve of his vocal works and five organ compositions have survived. On the strength of these, he is nevertheless considered one of the most prominent North German composers of the generation between Buxtehude and Bach. Buxtehude was in fact Bruhns teacher, and thought so highly of him that recommended him for a position in Copenhagen. There he worked as a violin virtuoso and composer until 1689, when he returned to Northern Germany to become organist in the main church of Husum. It was here that most if not all of the extant works were performed.
Masaaki Suzuki - Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works, Vol. 2 (2016)

Masaaki Suzuki - Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works, Vol. 2 (2016)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 312 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 169 Mb | Artwork included
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | # BIS-SACD-2241 | Time: 01:10:47

Masaaki Suzuki was an organist before he was a conductor, and his recordings of Bach's organ works have made a delightful coda to his magisterial survey of Bach cantatas with his Bach Collegium Japan. This selection, the second in a series appearing on the BIS label, gives a good idea of the gems available. You get a good mix of pieces, including a pair of Bach's Vivaldi transcriptions. Fans of Suzuki's cantata series will be pleased to note the similarities in his style between his conducting and his organ playing: there's a certain precise yet deliberate and lush quality common to both. And he has a real co-star here: the organ of the Kobe Shoin Women's University Chapel, built in 1983 by French maker Marc Garnier. The realizations of Bach's transcriptions of Vivaldi concertos fare especially well here, with a panoply of subtle colors in the organ. Sample the first movement of the Concerto in D minor, BWV 596, with its mellow yet transcendently mysterious tones in the string ripieni. BIS backs Suzuki up with marvelously clear engineering in the small Japanese chapel, and all in all, this is a Bach organ recording that stands out from the crowd. Highly recommended.