So much Bach, where do I start?


I think I could really get into J.S. Bach, but I want to start with music that has characteristics I know I like.
Likes:
up tempo,
percussive/choppy
different voices simultainously playing different melodic lines,
modern recording,
virtuosity (duh)

Dislikes:
harpsicords,
organs (from what little I've heard...no percussive faculty)
quiet music (for the moment)

I've been researching some with Napster and for soloists I like really like Casalas and Segovia, but the recording quality is kind of distracting to me. I also quite like the Double Violin Conerto Viviance (even despite the harpsicord ;) it's the only non-solo music I've found so far) and the piano Fugue stuff.
So, any particular CDs to check out? I need something to compliment my first good stereo system!
grungle

Showing 3 responses by rcprince

I agree with Sugarbrie, particularly on the Pinnock recommendation for the Brandenburgs, my favorite for its vitality. Rilling's recordings are on the Hanssler label, pretty well recorded and fine interpretations. I suggest you get the Magnificat, an excellent vocal piece, and if you get adventurous, the Mass in B Minor, the toughest but most rewarding piece of music I've ever sung. The John Elliot Gardiner version of this piece is very good, on Archiv, though a little shrill at times (but then again, that's what Baroque trumpets sometimes sound like); I like it better than the Perlman on Telarc for interpretation, Telarc for sonics. Finally, try the four orchestral suites, plenty of variety within their movements; any of the above conductors mentioned by Sugarbrie probably has a good recording. Enjoy!
That one's my favorite; usually they're two to a CD. One more thing I just thought of, you might want to ease your way into Bach's keyboard music through Stokowski's orchestral transcriptions of some of those works (remember the opening Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor from the original Fantasia?). There was a very good Chandos recording of them years ago which I have on vinyl and may be available on CD, and Telarc had some of them on its The Stokowski Sound CD with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops; I'm sure there are other versions available, as these were quite popular. Worth looking for, as they're a lot of fun.
I'll put in a plug for Christopher Herrick's Bach organ works cycle on Hyperion, well-recorded for the most part and well registered and played. I had the pleasure of meeting Christopher (he stayed at my home for a few days during an AGO workshop and concert at my church a few years ago), and found him to be a lot of fun but also a very serious musician, particularly with respect to his interpretations of Bach. The next summer I got to hear him play a number of concerts when he played all of the Bach organ works over a two-plus week period at Lincoln Center, quite a feat. Aside from his ability to master the technical demands of Bach's music, I find his taste in registrations to be excellent. As a good example of his playing, I'd recommend his Hyperion recording of the Bach Trio Sonatas, a reverberant and perhaps slightly bright recording which conveys the beauty and intricacy of those pieces, one of my favorite Bach organ discs.