Browse by Artist: BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN

Artist:	BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
Title:	Goldberg Variations: Aria With Diverse Variations BWV 988
Label:	CYBELE RECORDS (GERMANY)
Format:	CD/SACD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	CYBELE 30802CD

Performed by Martin Schmeding on the great historical Gottfried Silbermann Organ (III/47, 1755), Cathedral Dresden (Catholic Court Church). "'...the superb neatness, goodness and durability of its materials as well as its craftsmanship; the great simplicity of its inner construction; the uncommonly splendid and full intonation; and the extreme ease and comfort of its keyboards.' These words of praise from Johann Friedrich Agricola, a pupil of Bach, referring to the organs of Gottfried Silbermann, attest to the exceptional quality of organ-building in Germany during the high-baroque period. The Organ of the Catholic Court Church, Dresden (Cathedral) has 47 stops on three manuals and pedal and is Silbermann's grandest organ. 1755 -- only a few years after Bach's death -- the Organ was consecrated. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the organ in 1789 and praised all of its aspects in a letter to his wife. During the Second World War the organ's pipes were transferred for safe storage to the Marienstern monastery in 1944, soon before the bombing of Dresden. Since 2001 the Organ sounds again with its original pitch of 415 Hz. The Organ Version of the Goldberg Variations 'Aria with diverse variations for a harpsichord with two manuals' (part 4 of the Clavier-Übung). -- Johann Sebastian Bach unequivocally sets forth his requirements on the title page of the first printed edition of the Goldberg Variations: The harpsichord enables a large amount of variability in terms of technical and sonic possibilities (intersecting of pitches, changing of manuals, changing of timbres, changing of pitch through registration, etc). The arrangement for organ is, from the point of view of the formation of sound, a natural evolution from the original version for harpsichord. The intended effects and contrasts, often abrupt, that occur during the course of the work are rendered in a particularly plastic manner on the organ, through the multiplicity of stops at one's disposal." Stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player.

Artist:	BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
Title:	Goldberg Variations
Label:	HARMONIA MUNDI (FRANCE)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	HMU 907560

Peroformed by Fretwork, arranged for voils by Richard Boothby. "The Goldberg Variations for harpsichord are a pinnacle of Bach's compositional output. Like many of Bach's works, it has been transcribed for many different solo instruments and instrumental combinations. Fretwork's version for viol consort is one of the most unusual, in that it looks backward in time instead of forward. Bach was essentially a conservative composer, well grounded in the styles and structures of the past. His fondness for the sound of the viola da gamba is well documented and it provides additional justification for re-projecting this masterpiece of counterpoint through the sound-lens of 'old fashioned' instruments."

Artist:	BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
Title:	Goldberg Variations
Label:	LA DOLCE VOLTA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	LDV 001CD

"French harpsichordist Frederick Haas has made a name for himself with an aristocratic, pensive style more attuned to introspection than pyrotechnics. He has a profound knowledge of the inner workings of harpsichords and the secrets of their fine-tuning. Haas owns the spellbindingly beautiful 1751 Henri Hemsch Harpsichord used on this recording of Bach's immortal 'Goldberg Variations.' Explaining why he chose a French harpsichord for a decidedly German work, Hass explains, 'Since the 1751 Hemsch is one of the most beautiful harpsichords in existence and its tone and mechanics are perfect, why not use it here? The interpreter's role is to make sure his French harpsichord speaks decent German.'"

Artist:	BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
Title:	Goldberg-Variationen
Label:	NEOS (GERMANY)
Format:	CD/SACD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	NEOS 30801CD

Goldberg-Variationen BWV 988. Stereo/5.1 multichannel hybrid CD/SACD release that can be played on any CD player. "First recording of the version for string trio by Dmitry Sitkovetsky, taking into account the Urtext of the New Bach Edition, Bärenreiter 1977Swiss Chamber Soloists: Hanna Weinmeister (violin); Jürg Dähler (viola); Thomas Grossenbacher (cello). Played on original instruments by Jacobus Stainer. Around the turn of the millennium, the idea formed to found a first-class Swiss chamber ensemble that would bring together leading performers on the Swiss scene with renowned guests from abroad for ambitious chamber music projects. The ensemble performs in various combinations, and its repertoire includes not only famous and rediscovered works from the Baroque to Modernism but above all, numerous contemporary compositions, many of which were composed for and dedicated to the Swiss Chamber Soloists. They have earned a reputation in particular for performances and radio broadcasts of important contemporary works by Carter, Ferneyhough, Kurtág, Ligeti, Yun, and Zender, as well as world premieres of numerous works by Swiss composers such as Blank, Dayer, Furrer-Münch, Gaudibert, Gubler, Haubensak, Holliger, Käser, Kelterborn, Kessler, Kyburz, Lehmann, Moser, Roth, Schnyder, Tognetti, Wyttenbach, Vassena, and Zimmerlin. Already in its very first year of existence, the soloist ensemble was booked for concerts and tours throughout Europe, the United States, and Australia. Numerous CD and radio recordings and countless concert reviews testify to the first-class reputation of this renowned Swiss ensemble."

Artist:	BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN
Title:	The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1&2
Label:	SIGNUM U.K. (UK)
Format:	4CD
Price:	$37.00
Catalog #:	SIG 136CD

Performed by Jill Crossland (piano). "This box set consists of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier series by J.S. Bach, performed by Jill Crossland. Colloquially known as the '48' from the two books of 24 preludes and fugues, these works form one of the great landmarks of keyboard repertoire. In Jill Crossland's own words, 'No other music is so perfect an integration of emotional expression and intellectual rigour.' Jill first performed the complete Well-Tempered Clavier from memory as a student in Manchester." 4CDs for the price of 2.

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