Search - Johann Sebastian Bach :: Switched-On Brandenburgs

Beautiful, Fascinating, sometimes enthralling, but there's a

Michael Turken | San Francisco, CA | 11/14/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up listening to Wendy. When I was just a boy, I would sit with my father, a Baroque music lover, as he played the Brandenburg Concerti, and to this day they remain my favorite of the genre.



The transformation of this old music into the sounds of the modern day is truly fascinating, and one is struck by the flexibility of the concerti, that they still cohere.



After a few minutes of listening, I grew frustrated by how quickly the sound ascribed to a given voice part changes. As written, the instruments of the ensemble acquire a kind of personality as a movement develops, and much of this higher order structure is lost when the timbre is changed so radically and so frequently.



Also, some of the sounds Wendy uses sound too dated to my ears - they make me smile and think of the 80s, but one often gets a whiff of Bladerunner, and in Bach this can be a little jarring.



Overall, though, I am pleased with what I've gotten, except for a VERY PECULIAR glitch in the second movement of concerto #5 in D Major - the part normally given to a flute is way out of tune - one hears the overtone above the upper voice (a fifth above) - and the result is a long string of parallell fifth movement between the two upper voices which not only grates internally, but also with the other voices. I can't understand this choice - was she trying to harken back to the days before equal temperament?



I think this mars the work as a whole, and I so wish there wasn't such a careless blemish on an otherwise remarkable work. Bach would never have condoned such poor voice-leading."

Wonderful from Beginning to End!

Richard Rathe | Earleton, FL USA | 12/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Concerto #3 was incredible on the original Switched-On Bach album, and remains one of the best performances in this collection. Concerto #4 is from the Well-Tempered Synth. #5 from Switched-On Bach II. I tried hard to pick up the "glitch" mentioned by the other reviewer, but there is nothing strange to my ear. The tonalities are unusual, but nothing too far out. I got all of the above as part of the Switched-On Boxed Set so perhaps the engineering is different? If you like the Brandenburgs it is likely you will find one or two new favorite movements here!"

Wendy or Walter

A. Joshua Sims | Cleveland, Ohio | 07/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A clockwork perfection... the sound track to anyone who grew up in the early 70's"