Japanische Rezension siehe PDF!...

Japanische Rezension siehe PDF!...

These are the four orchestral suites of Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749), and we have his second cousin JS Bach to thank for having preserved and propagated them in Leipzig. Bernhard Bach was a keyboard musician at the court of Eisenach under Telemann. His suites reflect both French and Italian style— the so-called Gemischter Stil practiced by many German composers of the period. Overtures comport with the familiar “French Overture”: a majestic theme with dotted rhythms in the A section followed by an imitative, fugue-like B section. The movements that follow bear the titles of French theatrical dances, but their internal organization often reflects the ritornello form typical of contemporary Italian concertos. The effect is particularly clear in the first and fourth suites, with solo violin expertly performed by Gernot Süssmuth. The ‘Rondeau’ from the first suite is perhaps the perfect example, the way it alternates orchestral ritornellos with sequential solo violin episodes that bear the impress of Vivaldi’s concertos. The second and third suites are more French in style and use concertinos of mixed instrumentation—flutes, oboes, and string instruments. This is a lovely recording of music by a Bach family member whose lack of fame does not reflect the quality of his music.

These are Max Reger’s piano duet transcriptions of Bach’s 6 Brandenburg Concertos made in 1904-1905 and three other major organ works. Reger wrote “Sebastian Bach is for me the beginning and end of all music; on him rest, and from him originates, all real progress!” Countless volumes of piano duet arrangements, well into the 20th Century, seemed obligatory in the music publishing business; but Reger’s stand apart for their inventiveness and quality. He arranged many of Bach’s works in more than one version (solo piano, piano duet, 2 pianos). His many editions of Bach’s keyboard works have fallen out of favor for their excessive and very personal additions to Bach’s original texts. He said that his approach to Bach would “very much challenge the objections of pedestrian blockheads, or more politely speaking, the literal scholars lacking in imagination”. Like Reger’s very enjoyable 2-piano version of the Goldberg Variations (Schumann and Magalhaes, 2Piano 1039213, Mar/Apr 2014), I want the pianists to follow the tempos, dynamics, and phrasing that Reger was specific about in his performance instructions. He had an excellent musical mind and his ideas are well worth hearing—not to mention that the subject matter may be some of the greatest ever written. These are transcriptions in that there is not an added or deleted measure and any note changes are simply displacing a line up or down an octave or revoicing some chords to make them playable by two pianists at one keyboard. Reger wanted these to be as transparent as possible and said Fifth Concerto “was exceptionally difficult to arrange; I made countless attempts before I finally figured out the right one.” The performances here by Takahashi and Lehmann are amazing from every perspective. They make music in every measure: lines are clearly delineated and shaped, they are not shy about using the full dynamic range of the modern piano, and their virtuosity is stunning. When I used the music and listened specifically for how Reger divided up the notes for four hands, I was torn between Reger’s ingenuity and the pianist’s realization of it. Audite’s recorded piano sound is state of the art and the booklet essay is very informative. This is a recording I will return to on a regular basis.

[…] By one of those coincidences which mirror the banana-bunch effect of London buses, another recording of JB Bach’s Suites has recently appeared, containing all four (Audite 97.770). I’ve had time only to dip into that recording, from the Thüringer Bach Collegium but, considering that the Naïve recording comes at an attractive price, it’s well worth having both, especially as the Audite can be downloaded from Qobuz, in lossless sound with booklet, for £6.49. The Thüringer recording of the music of Prince Johann Ernst (Audite 97.769) is also recommended […]

[…] By one of those coincidences which mirror the banana-bunch effect of London buses, another recording of JB Bach’s Suites has recently appeared, containing all four (Audite 97.770). I’ve had time only to dip into that recording, from the Thüringer Bach Collegium but, considering that the Naïve recording comes at an attractive price, it’s well worth having both, especially as the Audite can be downloaded from Qobuz, in lossless sound with booklet, for £6.49. The Thüringer recording of the music of Prince Johann Ernst (Audite 97.769) is also recommended […]

Jimin Oh-Havenith (b 1960) is Korean but has been living and teaching in Germany for many years. She is clearly a serious and accomplished musician. For this recording she has selected two great masterpieces of the repertoire that make very different demands on technique and expression. The Schubert sonata is better than the Liszt sonata. I first listened to the Schubert played by Gilbert Schuchter (J/F 2018) whose interpretation is magisterial—slow and serious, with meticulous articulation and dynamics as well as judicious rubato to add just a hint of charm. Oh-Havenith’s approach is rather similar, only the rubato is almost totally absent, and with it the charm. Only in the Trio of III does she relax a bit. Some isolated notes in I seem a bit too short to me, and loud parts can get severe and heavy. (Do I hear an extra note at 1:28 in III? Perhaps an editing mistake.) This is a somewhat rigid and austere rendition of the sonata, but it commands respect. Schubert can live without rubato. But Liszt cannot. She displays the same seriousness and careful articulation, and she has more than sufficient technique, but there is not much excitement or lyricism. Her touch is rather hard, and she takes difficult passages at a deliberate pace, which robs them of momentum. The fugal section, too, is rather academic, not Mephistophelian. The beginning and end of the sonata lack mystery. The lyrical sections are stiff, almost metronomic. Short notes are sometimes hacked. For comparison I listened to a recording by Andrei Vieru (IMV 25) whose performance is fairly standard but for that reason alone preferable to Oh-Havenith’s, and to a recent concert performance on BBC Radio 3 by a talented young Georgian, Mariam Batsashvili, who made the sonata really come to life (but had to pay the price for some risk-taking). Of course, there are many outstanding recordings by great pianists of the past and present. So, at best this release is worth getting for the Schubert. The recorded sound is excellent.

Both of these releases are both historically significant and musically delightful.

Japanische Rezension siehe PDF!

Japanische Rezension siehe PDF!