Search - Walter Kraft :: Bach: Complete Organ Music [Box Set]

A Solid Bargain

Johannes Climacus | Beverly, Massachusetts | 08/31/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Listeners of a certain age will recall Walter Kraft's numerous Vox recordings with affection, if only because we learned our organ literature by listening to them. Younger listeners may benefit from hearing a long-vanished style of organ playing that favors piquant registration and a solid, serene approach to Bach. To some ears (including mine from time to time) that approach might well sound plodding. One could name two dozen organists more virtuosic than Kraft, and perhaps another dozen more imaginative (including, among those of his own generation, Carl Weinrich and Helmut Walcha). Yet somehow Kraft's meditative unfolding particularly but not exclusively of the chorale-based works remains deeply moving. I also appreciate hearing Bach's organ music performed on minimally-restored organs of the period, with their capacity for providing unintended percussion obbligati through extraneous creaks, bangs, clicks and knocks. All very charming--in doses of less than one CD at a time. Kraft's survey is not exactly "complete" (few are, since many works with BWV numbers are not by Bach), but unquestionably a solid bargain at the asking price (thirty-five dollars or thereabouts at the time of writing). Decent digital transfers."

An essential complete works

ericwal | New York, NY USA | 10/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best "complete" organ works and an incredible bargain as well. Not a lot of embellishment here but beautiful playing, crystalline interpretations. Listen to the long powerful arcs in the phrasing and hear how Kraft reveals the celestial architecture of the music. The more you listen to Kraft the emptier many flashier interpretations seem. Belongs with Menuhin and Landowska in the essential Bach collection."