Schmid Bach

Austrian violin virtuoso Benjamin Schmid about this recording: “after 30 years of playing the master, the time felt right to improvise on Bach: Bach as the inventor of “walking bass“; master of improvisation; figured bass and Realbook; swing of the centuries; variation as form; Sarabande and Blues; Aria and leadsheet; pedalpoint and modal jazz; counterpoint and voicing; Cantata and Gospel; ultimate chamber music….. I just followed the temptation and inspiration took over!“ Benjamin Schmid was born in Vienna and grew up in Salzburg. Among other competitions, he won the Carl Flesch Competition in London 1992, where he was also awarded the Mozart-, the Beethoven- and the Audience Prize.

Natürlich muss man die Bearbeitung, ja Entstellung von originalen Werken der Kunst ablehen - aber man sollte die Gesetze auch manchmal ruhen lassen. In diesem Fall eröffnet sich dem Freund des Bachschen Solowerkes eine neue Welt. Ganz einfach weil die Piano-Begleitung Robert Schumanns (egal wie angemessen oder gelungen) den einzigartigen Meditationen des Barock-Meisters eine ganz neue Note verleiht. Aus dem Monolog wird eine Dialog. Aus den manchmal anrührenden, manchmal nervenzerfetzenden Phrasen des Einsamens wird eine Kommunikation, ein Gemessenwerden, ein Ver- oder Mißverständnis. Das verlangt Benjamin Schmid ein ganz anderes Musizieren ab (er hat die Original-Version schon ganz großartig genommen). Und er schafft es auch hier meisterhaft.

Some people still see the name Reger and are afraid to listen to the music because of all the preconceptions about it: It is dense, it is highly contrapuntal, it is harmonically wandering, it is difficult. Certainly there are works written by the great Bavarian composer Hindemith called him “the last giant in music” that could be considered virtually all of those things. And there are works by him by virtually every great composer one can name—that are less inspired, less interesting, that simply work less well than others.

"Clavier-Übung (keyboard exercise) consisting of an Aria with diverse variations for 2-manual harpsichord, dedicated to music-lovers to gladden their hearts, by J. S. Bach, composer to the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, Kapellmeister and Civic Director of Music for Leipzig. Edited by Balthasar Schmid at Nuremberg.” So runs the very modest title for a piece of harpsichord literature that can be described only as a work of towering complexity and of the most profound expressive grandeur. Its richness derives on the one hand from its great number of rhythmic figures (only, perhaps with Stravinsky does such profusion again occur), and on the other hand from a composing style that makes use of almost all the possible canonic intervals and inversions.

“Tuba und Geige – eine ungewöhnliche Kombination, sicher. Eine, die zum Hinhören zwingt, als ob das eine Ohr beim Streich-, das andere beim Blasinstrument wäre. Durch die so meilenweit voneinander entfernten Klangfarben erkennt man beim Hören glasklar die beiden Linien – wie zwei Graphen in einem Koordinatensystem. Mit dem spannenden Effekt, dass etwas Abstraktes unmittelbar erfahrbar wird.”

Various Artists - Orgels In Nederland - Dutch Organs 1511-1896 (2005) {20CD Box Set De Banier-Stemra 9033605619}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 6.33 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 346 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 239 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2005 De Banier / Stemra | 9033605619
Classical / Organ Music

Unique! That is how the CD-box ‘Orgels in Nederland | Dutch organs’ can be described. An extensive project containing a book and some CDs, put together by Okke Dijkhuizen who participated in the organ recordings for EO radio many years. One hundred recordings of monumental big organs and also of some smaller and less known instruments. The book (both in Dutch and English) contains a general introduction of the organs, as well as some historical facts and the disposition of the recorded instruments. The editor has aimed at a diversity of organ-builders as big as possible and a balanced regional representation. The result is a fascinating selection, for lovers of organs a ‘partner for life’. Book (Dutch and English), 288 pages incl. 20 CDs.