Not all of Bach’s Cantatas were written for Sunday service. Here is a pair of humorous offerings performed with great charisma by the husband-wife duo of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Julia Varady.

Purists might squirm but purists should think again. As Raymond Tuttle says in his background notes to this unique release, ‘When purists complain about Bach played on the piano, they also need to be reminded that, as these five concertos were not written for the keyboard in the first place, one might argue that any […]

For their 1989 festival, the committee of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir invited Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to join the Choir and the Utah Symphony Orchestra under maestro Julius Rudel. The choice of repertoire remained open and Dame Kiri selected a highly appropriate program of inspirational works that she could share with the choir and its […]

Christmas in Leipzig, 1723 Advent was a time of penitence in the Lutheran as in other Christian traditions. In Leipzig, the first Sunday in Advent was treated with some pomp as the beginning of the church year, and the service included a cantata. But on the other three Sundays, music was simple and the only […]

Being born in Romania and surrounded from childhood by folk melodies and fiery popular dance music certainly helps in forming an inspired musician, provided the talent is there. In the case of the exceptionally gifted Gheorghe Zamfir, who was born to a family of vine-growers in 1941 in Gaiesti near Bucharest, these fortunate circumstances led […]

Angela Hewitt – a familiar visitor to Australia and a highly represented recording artist (she has recorded the complete Bach keyboard works for Hyperion) – made this, an early recording, for Deutsche Grammophon upon winning the 1985 Toronto International Bach Piano Competition. They are natural, unforced and beautifully-turned performances of some of Bach’s most popular […]

Britten’s stately and clear-sighted readings of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos begin a program that continues with a group of rarities. Much requested and finally available on CD, is the complete 1953 Opening Concert of the Aldeburgh Festival in which Britten and Imogen Holst shared the conducting honours. In addition to the anthems (in which the soloists […]

Kempff’s Baroque pedigree stemmed from the influence of his father also named Wilhelm Kempff and his grandfather Cantor Friedrick Kempff. Both  were organists who taught the budding prodigy much of the organ’s core repertoire. In fact, Kempff’s youthful debut as an organist took place before his first recital as a pianist in 1907. With help […]

Ruggiero Ricci has enjoyed a varied and colourful discography on Decca and these recordings, are, apart from Prokofiev’s Second Violin Sonata, all comprised of music for solo violin. The Bach pieces date from the 1957 London sessions and the 20th-century pieces were recorded three years later at Victoria Hall in Geneva. Tully Potter’s perceptive liner […]

The fourth volume in ‘The Flagstad Recitals’, comprises two LPs Kirsten Flagstad made with the London Philharmonic and Sir Adrian Boult in December 1956 (Bach and Handel: CD2) and April 1957 (Sacred Songs: CD1) at London’s Kingsway Hall. The Penguin Guide to bargain Compact Discs praised the ‘sacred pops’ CD for the ‘vivid projection’ of […]

In addition to recording the Bach Violin Concertos with Henryk Szeryng, Neville Marriner and the Academy also recorded two LPs of arrangements (made by Christopher Hogwood) of harpsichord concertos. These colourful arrangements are for oboe, flute and violin in various combinations. They were issued originally on two Argo LPs to great critical acclaim and are […]

Long out of the catalogue, Marriner’s (Philips) recording of Bach’s B Minor Mass, with an array of splendid soloists, returns to circulation. Its coupling is the first release on CD of this recording of the deeply moving Cantata BWV 56 ‘Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen’. It was one of two (extant) Bach cantatas for […]