Superb Performances In Middling Transfers
Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Amazon editorial reviewer Dan Davis and I are certainly in agreement on these wonderful performances. Purists may sniff at the piano continuo and sundry other quaint anachronisms, but none of the original instrument/"musically informed" CD versions - not a one - has the sheer musicality and joyful exuberance of these 1930's recordings.
My only caveats: 1) this CD set is apparently out of print, and 2) these are not especially good transfers. Pearl's "non-interventionist" philosophy of transferring 78 rpm discs "as is" works fine when they are working with really pristine shellacs. Unfortunately, the 78s used here are rather noisy and a little the worse for wear. A quick comparison with the Andante historical Bach CD set (which contains a couple selections from this collection) is entirely to the latter's advantage: Andante has done a gorgeous job that makes the recordings sound 10 years younger. Since I already have these Busch accounts of Bach's Brandenburgs & Orchestral Suites in excellent sound on Japanese EMI LPs, I actually swapped this Pearl CD set for something else down at the local used CD store.
Suggestion: these priceless historical performances will surely be re-issued, possibly by EMI (who recorded them in the first place) and, hopefully, in the not too distant future. I would simply wait until a well-mastered re-issue appears instead of buying this somewhat blighted Pearl edition.
The Busch renditions of the Suites are my all-time favorites. For more modern sound, I enjoy a fine Philips LP set conducted by Raymond Leppard. I used to own a dozen different sets of the Brandenburgs - probably my favorites of Bach's works - but I have whittled that down to just four:
1. This set of the six by Busch (on Japanese EMI LPs).
2. London Baroque Ensemble, conducted by Karl Haas (a 3-disc Westminster LP set that has not yet been transferred to CD). These are wonderful performances, more "period" than the Busch (recorders - also called fipples - were used, etc.) and it has a superb harpsichordist in Robert Veyron-LaCroix (his first mvt. cadenza in the 5th Brandenburg is the finest I have ever heard).
3. Collegium Aureum (RCA Victrola 2-LP stereo set) is much closer to today's "baroque purist" recordings (one instrument per part, period embellishments, etc.) and is probably the best of Gustav Leonhardt's Bach harpsichord efforts.
4. Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the great violinist Szymon Goldberg (Philips 3-CD set 438507, recently deleted). This is my favorite set of all - the desert island version. It also includes both Violin Concertos (with Goldberg) and the Two-Violin Concerto (with Goldberg & Thomas Magyar). The playing here is simply fabulous: warm, rhythmically pointed, and perhaps a little slower than average. Goldberg's terrific ensemble includes flutist Hubert Barwahser, oboist Haakon Stotijn, and Willem Groot (trumpet). Goldberg himself plays violin in 1-5 and viola in #6. These excellent stereo recordings (1958-60) still sound great: for a combination of great art in fine sound, this is my version of choice.
Bottom line: I would pass on these Pearl CD transfers and wait for a sonically-superior re-issue to come along. But if you only want ONE set of just the Brandenburgs, my choice is the Goldberg/Netherlands CD version on Philips.
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Track Listings (13) - Disc #1