Bach: Brandenburg Concertos cover

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

Released

In the early 1980s, the period-instrument movement was arriving at full maturity; no longer did you have to worry about whether the gut-strung violins and the boxwood flutes were going to be in tune, and there was solid research behind the new/old approaches to rhythm and tempo. But when Reinhard Goebel’s celebrated Musica Antiqua Köln took on Bach’s magisterial Brandenburg concertos, jaws dropped and heads were scratched across the musical world: yes, they played with admirable precision, but the tempos seemed ridiculous. But the willful oddity of this recording is part of that makes it so compelling — the other part is the precision, and the passion. This shouldn’t be anyone’s only recording of the Brandenburgs, but anyone with an interest in musical debates around period performance will find it fascinating.

Rick Anderson

Suggestions
Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 cover

Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 1

Michael Alexander Willens, Ronald Brautigam, Kölner Akademie
Krommer: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 9 cover

Krommer: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 9

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Howard Griffiths
Cranford: Consort Music for 4, 5 & 6 Viols cover

Cranford: Consort Music for 4, 5 & 6 Viols

LeStrange Viols, William Cranford
Baroque Marimba cover

Baroque Marimba

Stanislao Marco Spina
Johann Bach: Ouvertures for Orchestra cover

Johann Bach: Ouvertures for Orchestra

Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
Lux Aeterna cover

Lux Aeterna

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park
Daniel Lentz: Ending(s) cover

Daniel Lentz: Ending(s)

Fahad Siadat, Twilight String Orchestra, Daniel Lentz, Nicholas Deyoe
Tõnu Kõrvits: Mirror cover

Tõnu Kõrvits: Mirror

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kadri Voorand, Anja Lechner, Tõnu Kaljuste