Search - J. S. Bach, Hans Fagius :: Bach: Complete Organ Works

A teacher's lesson

Bogdan Petculescu | Ottawa, Canada | 07/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hans Fagius (born 1951, now an organ professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music) initially recorded the organ works of J S Bach for the Swedish label BIS in the eighties - the series received highest recommendations when it was first issued.



This box from Brilliant Classics contains all those individual CDs packed nicely in paper sleeves inside a wallet.



Fagius plays on five restored Swedish organs, i.e.:

- the Kristine Church organ (Falun);

- the 1728 Cahman organ (Leufista Bruk);

- the Matts Arvidsson organ (Mariefred Church);

- the Nils-Olof Berg organ (Mission Church, Uppsala);

- the 1764 Wahlberg organ (Fredrikskyrkan, Karlskrona).



The sound is excellent, the church acoustics finely caught but never overwhelming.



The notes, by Fagius, are magnificent. I don't think one can learn more about Bach's organ works from the liner notes included in any other complete (more or less...) sets on the market.



The interpretation is splendid: highly enjoyable, even though there is no fancy stuff here, only the best scholarly (in the better sense of the word) rendition.

Fagius uses every resource available and displays a variety of styles, sometimes painting with a thick brush and sometimes sketching with a fine pen, but always bringing to light the genial substance and the depth of these works. While listening, you are being taught by a wonderful teacher - about beauty, majesty, history, musical structures... Maybe even life?

"

Reissue

whitley 190 | tennessee | 03/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hans Fagius originally did these recordings for the Bis label. These 17 discs are currently at $21 per disc."