The #1 Bach Album

Read About This Recording

It is hard to imagine how classical music would have developed if Johann Sebastian Bach hadn't come along to pour the foundations that every composer who followed Bach used as his basis. To get an overview of Bach's incredible output is almost impossible; the number of works he composed is hard to comprehend. Perhaps that is why this 2-CD compilation aptly titled The #1 Bach Album is so wonderful.

Throughout the music-packed CDs we are treated to one great Bach selection after another. There are excerpts from the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Orchestral Suites, the Cantatas, the Cello Suites, the Lute Suites and the powerful Magnificat. But what makes this more than just another well-done collection is the fact that these seminal pieces are played by some of the finest interpreters of Bach's music. You'll hear I Musici, Andras Schiff, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, organist Helmut Wacha, cellist Mischa Maisky, guitarist Narciso Yepes, Karl Munchinger, Kiri Te Kanawa, Heinz Holliger, Karl Richter, Janos Starker and John Eliot Gardiner. It's a veritable 'who's who' of Bach interpreters.

Perhaps one of the best selections is a brilliant performance of the Italian Concerto played by Society Favorite Alfred Brendel. His technique is truly amazing and this is a recording to be reckoned with.

This compilation highlights a limitless variety of interpretative styles and a wide range of Bach's incredible compositional skills. For anyone who loves Bach, or if you've always wanted to discover Bach's brilliance but didn't know where to begin, this is the perfect set.

-Jacob Anthony

Contents

Brandenburg Concertos: No. 2 in F, No. 5 in D Major, No. 6 in B-Flat; Goldberg Variations; Overture in the French Manner (Partita in B Minor); Partitas: No. 1 in B-Flat & No. 3 in E for Solo Violin; Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; Toccata and Fugue in D Minor; Prelude and Fugue in D; Fugue in G Minor The Little; Italian Concerto in F; Concerto No. 1 for Harpsichord, Strings and Continuo in D Minor; Cello Suite No. 1 in G; Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor; Lute Suite No. 1 in E Minor; Sheep May Safely Graze; Invention No. 4 in D Minor from 15 Two-Part Inventions; The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Prelude & Fugue No. 5; Chromatical Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor; Bist du bei mir; Jesu, Priceless Treasure; Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C; Komm, susser Tod; Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe; Concerto for Violin, Strings and Basso Continuo in A Minor; Harpsichord Concerto No. 5; Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme; Cello Suite No. 6 in D; Fuga ricerata a 6 from The Musical Offering; Magnificat.

Arthur Grumiaux, Henryk Szeryng, Violins; Mischa Maisky, Cello; Trevor Pinnock, Harpsichord; Andras Schiff, Alfred Brendel, Pianos; Kiri Te Kanawa, Soprano; The English Concert; Sir Neville Marriner, John Eliot Gardiner, Karl Munchinger, Conductors; others.