This limited edition presents three outstanding albums by Víkingur Ólafsson in a box set including additional fan content and deluxe packaging. With three albums on Deutsche Grammophon so far Ólafsson is known as one of the most exciting pianists of today and widely acknowledged for his “individuality of spirit and intelligence of execution” (Limelight Magazine).
The third volume of our complete recording of Bach's cantatas comprises works drawn from three different categories. First comes a group of seven sacred cantatas from the years 1714-17, the majority of which were written for the Weimar Schloßkirche. Taken together with the cantatas contained in Volumes 1 and 2,these seven works - Cantatas 54,63,155, 161,162,163 and 165 - form the group of 23 sacred cantatas that have survived complete from the years leading up to the end of Bach's term of office as Konzertmeister to the Weimar court in 1717.
Originally released between 1975 to 1991 on the now-defunct Calliope label, Andre Isoir's recordings of the complete organ works of Bach have been unanimously acclaimed by both the press and the public. La Dolce Volta now offers these landmark recordings (unavailable since 2008), completely remastered, in a deluxe, specially priced boxed set. The set includes a 152 page, full color booklet rich with photos and information about the music and the recordings.
Bach's 200 existing cantatas (100 more have been lost) represent one of music history's most remarkable achievements. The first volume in Erato's ambitious but much-needed traversal of the complete canon contains nine cantatas from Bach's early career. Except for "Christ lag in Todesbanden," these are lesser-known works, yet that doesn't mean they are of lesser quality. Here are some of Bach's most compelling choruses, accompanied by colorful and ingenious instrumental writing. Highlights abound, including the appendices that reproduce Bach's revised versions of cantatas 4 and 21. The choral singing is excellent: sensitive and agile, with unforced tone.
Albert Schweitzer was a German (writing in French also) theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. As well as his important theological work (he depicted Jesus as literally believing the end of the world was coming in his own lifetime), he developed various theories on music, in particular the work of J.S. Bach. He explained figures and motifs in Bach’s Chorale Preludes as painter-like tonal and rhythmic imagery illustrating themes from the words of the hymns on which they were based.
To celebrate the conclusion of CPO’s extensive survey of Bach’s complete organ works, all the volumes are presented here in a 22 CD box set complete with 168 page booklet.