Customer Rating:  
Summary: All the Bach you ever wanted
Comment: I haven't yet had time to listen to all the CDs in this set, but what I've heard so far is excellent. There are better recordings (at least of the works I'm familiar with - the Gould and Jarrett recordings of the Goldberg Variations, the Casals cello stuff and the Tognetti violin partitas for instance) but this is a very useful reference for anyone who's interested in Bach's music. It also has the advantage of being played (as far as I can determine) on Baroque instruments. I recommend it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good things....bad things
Comment: The Organ Works are very well played. The Orchestral Suites are fantastic.The B minor Mass and the Passions are good.The Secular Cantatas are old recordings but very well directed by Peter Schreier. But the Sacred Cantatas are very bad .The soloists are out of tune , and the impression is that they used a record fast time to record all that fantastic music.60 Cds for nothing.For a Collection of 155 Cds it's too much.If the Short Masses are very ancient recordings using enormous orchestras and the soloists are more to Wagner than to Bach ( Adam, Burmeister)I believe that we have here more honesties performances.The price is the principal star of this album. For documentation is OK.But I Think , specially the Sacred Cantatas , that it is one work that deserve something better played.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A surprising box set
Comment: Bach is my favourite composer, so I did not hesitate to buy this Box Set. All I can say is it is an insane bargain! The Cantatas alone are well worth the price.
Von Asperen contributions in some keybord pieces are just great.
Nevertheless, I consider the harspichord and organ recordings just decent. The performers definitely did not manage to transmit Bach's "mathematical style".
If you want reference harpsichord recordings, take a look at Trevor Pinocks recordings. For organ, Helmut Walcha is a much better option.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Comment: Simply awesome. Not only is it a ridiculously good bargain at under $1 per CD (prior to this I was considering another complete Bach set for 8x the price), but to my surprise these are some of my favorite recordings ever. Holland has become sort of an epicenter of Bach these days, and this Dutch group does not disappoint.
The recording quality is excellent, and what I especially love in the cantatas is the authentic singing: no annoying overblown vibrato or modern rubato thrown in, just pure, sweet, golden tone. And I love the smaller orchestrations, you can really hear each individual line so clearly. I absolutely adore this box set, I think no household should be without it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bach Box
Comment: The complete works of Bach are a wonder! I have wanted this my whole life...it only took 40 years for the works to be recorded and the price to be manageable to my finances.
|
