Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Francois Couperin, George Frederick Handel :: Christopher Parkening plays Bach

Pinnacle

M. Maxwell | Vancouver, BC, Canada | 10/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't over-exaggerate the impact this album had on me when my Dad played it for me when I was about 6. It encouraged me to become a guitarist, and hearing it was my first truly profound musical experience that I can remember.



I love all kinds of music, but nothing has touched me like this album in the 19 years since then. Parkening's reading of Bach arranged for the classical guitar is flawless on this recording; no one, not even his mentor has matched it.



"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", "Sheep May Safely Graze" and especially "Sleepers Awake" are the best renditions of these songs that I've heard, regardless of the arrangement. His control and dynamics are just staggering.



I can't explain where this album or music came from. It's my absolute favourite album. It's part of human evolution and the continually unfolding Great Work."

Masterpiece

David Mitchel | Appomattox, VA USA | 09/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music of J. S. Bach seems to bring out the best in Christopher Parkening. Mr. Parkening understands Bach, and plays his music with grace, intelligence and sensitivity. He displays those qualities magnificently on this collection.The selections here represent a wide variety of Bach pieces: portions of cantatas, solo cello works, and pieces from the Well-Tempered Clavier. All of the pieces are transcribed skillfully for solo guitar, and every track flows naturally into the next. Standouts among the Bach pieces include "Sheep May Safely Graze" and "Sleepers Awake"--two meditative cantata selections which were so brilliantly arranged and performed that you'd almost think they were originally written for guitar.And the additional baroque works presented here are not just "filler." Mr. Parkening gives stunning performances of great pieces composed by baroque giants like Handel, and he closes the recording in great style, with a passionate performance of Scarlatti.Music doesn't get more enjoyable than this."

The Perfect Storm

TJD3 | Kansas City | 04/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The are times when the musician, the composer, and the instrument just match perfectly; this disc is an example of that.



Nevermind that Bach never wrote a single note for the guitar, many of his pieces actually work better on the guitar than they would the clavier. The guitar provides much more opportunity for the musician to impart emotion by varying volume and tone. And Parkening capitalizes on that opportunity beautifully.



His playing is clean, thoughtful, and competent. This is, in my opinion, clearly Parkening's best recording. I highly recommend it. (I also recommend his In the Spanish Style, another of my favorites)."