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Romantic Bach – from intimate to epic on the modern piano. A selection of Bach originals and transcriptions from organ, violin and cantata.

Nothing new about this concept; music inspired by, or transcriptions of, the music of Bach. But surely this never gets tired. The young Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar has collected many of the “usual suspects” as well as some charming rarities. In the former category there are the great Liszt works, including an essentially literal transcription for piano of a prelude and fugue originally for organ, and his masterful melding of the Baroque and the high Romantic in his grandiose tribute to the Master by using German notation to make a melody of the letters of his name…

Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero scored an artistic success with her previous EMI disc Gabriela Montero: Piano Recital, consisting of two discs, of which the second consisted entirely of improvisations. With Bach and Beyond, Montero dives into her first all-improvisation disc, and while it is not a completely unqualified success artistically, it can be a refreshing swim.

The first ATMA recording by l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec (Quebec City Symphony Orchestra) of transcriptions of music by Debussy was a huge success and now ATMA present transcriptions of music by J S Bach. Conductor Yoav Talmi has not necessarily chosen the transcriptions you might expect. Of course we have Stokowski’s Toccata & Fugue in D minor but there are also transcriptions by William Walton, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, and even Anton Webern and Ottorino Respighi.

Johann Sebastian Bach ~ Best of Bach (12CD Set) (2006)
Classical | Easy CD-DA / Flac & Cue, No Log | Covers included | 5 % recovery | 4,5 GB | RS.com
Audio CD: November 6, 2006 | Label: Warner Classics

Warner Classics presents Best of Bach, a spirited selection of works by Bach, both choral and instrumental, performed by some of Warner Classics's most highly acclaimed artists…

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Snowflakes in the air, the crunch of snow beneath your feet, the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Freezing outside, the warm glow of the fireplace within. The bustle of Christmas markets and the sound of merry carollers in the street. The celestial sound of choirs and teh healing scent of incense drifting through a little church or mighty cathedral. Imagine all these and you begin to form a picture of Christmas in Vienna.

Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki present their long-awaited second volume of secular cantatas by J.S. Bach. The “Hunt Cantata”, composed in 1713, is the oldest of his secular cantatas. The libretto includes a dramatic plot in which four divinities from ancient mythology appear.