MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
Plain text for smartphones & printers


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

Bach_Brandenburgs_FR863.jpg 

Availability
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) 
Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 BWV1046-1051 (1708-21) 
Soloists and Chamber Orchestra of Basel/Paul Sacher
rec. March-April 1954, Konservatorium, Vienna
FORGOTTEN RECORDS FR863-4 [49:08 + 57:45]  

At a time when there is a surfeit of period instrument recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos, it is good occasionally to revisit the past and reacquaint oneself with some of the fine traversals of the 78 and LP eras. Forgotten Records have issued several notable sets under the direction of such musicians as Hermann Scherchen (1954), Wilhelm Schüchter (1954-4), Boyd Neel (1956) and Thurston Dart (1958-9). These have all been reviewed on MusicWeb International.
 
This latest offering comes from the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher (1906-1999), who founded the ensemble featured here in 1926. It went on to perform until 1987. My previous encounters with Sacher have always been in recordings of contemporary 20th century music, so I was very interested to hear his take on some earlier music. Indeed he commissioned many contemporary works from such composers as Bartók, Hindemith, Krenek, Martinů and Stravinsky, just to name a few. I have just recently finished an excellent biography of Sacher entitled ‘Symphony of Dreams’ by Lesley Stephenson, which should be read by anyone with an interest in this conductor.
 
So what of the performances? Well, I was very impressed by the contributions from the soloists. Rodolfo Felicani (violin) appears in several of the concertos and is outstanding especially in the solo parts of the fourth and fifth concertos. I particularly liked the way he blends with the two flutes (Joseph Bopp and Hugo Hadelmann), in Concerto no. 4. It is a pity that the harpsichord continuo in this work is too forwardly placed in the balance with the player, who is not named, appearing a little heavy-handed, his contribution lacking in expression.

I would also single out Concerto no. 5. The soloists Bopp and Felicani, joined by Eduard Muller on the harpsichord, are first class and deliver a compelling version. The beautiful expressive playing of the violin in the second movement and the sensitive dialogue between all three instruments in the third movement, make this something well worth hearing.
 
My only disappointment is the third concerto which sounds a little four-square and pedantic. I have always favoured one-to-a-part in this work, as in Menuhin’s 1959 Bath Festival recording.
 
Sacher’s tempi, dynamics and phrasing are ideal in the main. The mono sound is excellent for its age, the recordings having been digitally re-masterd from LP. There are no booklet notes, as is usual with this label. As a long-standing devotee of these works, this cycle will sit alongside my Busch and Menuhin sets, as being ones that I will return to often.
 
Stephen Greenbank    

Masterwork Index: Brandenburg concertos