Track Listing

1. Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Vivace
2. Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Largo ma non tanto
3. Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Allegro
4. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041: untitled
5. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041: Andante
6. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041: Allegro assai
7. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 2 in E major, BWV 1042: Allegro
8. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 2 in E major, BWV 1042: Adagio
9. Concerto for violin, strings & continuo No. 2 in E major, BWV 1042: Allegro assai
10. Concerto for oboe & violin (or 2 violins), strings & continuo (reconstruction), BWV 1060R: Allegro
11. Concerto for oboe & violin (or 2 violins), strings & continuo (reconstruction), BWV 1060R: Adagio
12. Concerto for oboe & violin (or 2 violins), strings & continuo (reconstruction), BWV 1060R: Allegro

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22929 in Music
• Brand: Bach
• Released on: 1999-04-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .63 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
It's well known that most of Bach's harpsichord concertos began their lives as violin concertos. Since only three violin originals survive--the ones designated as BWV 1041-43--and since these are among his greatest instrumental works, musical scholars and performers have been reversing the process, turning the harpsichord concertos back into violin originals. BWV 1060 is one such case, a concerto for two harpsichords, which sounds much less clangy and bangy in this reconstructed version for two violins. Now Andrew Manze is simply the finest baroque violinist alive, and so this recording is self-recommending on that count alone. It's just about perfect. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

A brilliant interpretation to well known pieces
The pieces in this album are well known. However, listening to this brilliant, authentic interpretation and performance of these familiar pieces, fills me with great joy every time I play this CD. The violin concertos, to my opinion among the best of Bach's instrumental pieces, can fit almost every mood. They are perfect for intimate listening while doing absolutely nothing else, but also as background.

I've heard other interpretations to the concertos, but this is the best to my opinion. I must add that people who don't like authentic performance on period instruments might find this performance a bit thin compared to ones performed on modern instruments.

The last piece on the CD (BWV 1060) was a surprise, since it is better known as an Oboe-Violin concerto, and not as a double violin concerto. The result of the change (read Manze's explanaition as to why he did it) is fabulous.

If you buy the CD, take some time to read the short article Manze himself wrote about the recording and the interpretation. It's fascinating.

ENJOY!

Performances which made me listen to the works again
There are not many who have not heard one or all of these concertos previously, particularly the Double Concerto. Having heard both these soloists live and on record, however, I was easily persuaded to invest in another CD of the Bach concerti. Thankfully I was proved right, and have enjoyed these performances repeatedly. Manze brings a sense of the improvisatory to these works, which so often are treated as untouchable monuments. His feeling, which Podger matches in the Double Concerto, revitalizes the spirit of the music. This is not simply to do with speeds, but the inner phrasing, which he encourages the orchestra to follow. If there is a small criticism, it is that some of the ornamentation does not stand up to repeated hearing: but if that is all there is to comment on, then I would not stand in the way of supporting the musicality presented here.

Look for the cheaper version of the same performance
This performance of Bach's Violin Concertos is vibrant, dynamic, and skilled, with virtuosic playing from both Manze and Podger, all mixed and molded in the signature Harmonia Mundi sound: clean, articulate, and plush.

History has not been written, but Manze will go down as one of the finest violinists to ever be recorded, baroque, romantic, it doesn't mater. And Podger is certainly not far behind him.

You can get this same disc for less than half the price, one of HM's Bach commemoratives with a catalogue. Take advantage of the quirky marketing.