Deutsche Grammophon Releases Bach's BRANDENBURG CONCERTO, 3/15

Though Bach is not the first composer one associates with Claudio Abbado, the maestro brings his considerable wisdom and maturity from a lifetime of making music which ennobles his leadership of the superb Orchestra Mozart in these performances.  The sublime simplicity of their performances illuminates the complexities of Bach's works.  Recorded live at the Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli, Reggio Emilia, these recordings are now available on CD for the first time on March 15, 2011 from Deutsche Grammophon.
 
Abbado previously recorded the Brandenburg Concertos with soloists from the La Scala Orchestra in the 1970s, which was then a rare foray into Bach's works for the maestro.  In the mid-1990s Abbado began to program these works alongside the Kammermusiken of Hindemith thus presenting the Baroque master in contrast with a 20th-century master.  After the establishment of the Orchestra Mozart in 2004 with Abbado at the helm it seemed inevitable that after extensive preparation of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and others the group would eventually turn to Bach.
 
In 2007 Abbado and the Orchestra Mozart toured Italy performing all six of the Brandenburg Concertos, and on that tour this recording was made.  Recorded in the intimate Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli, Reggio Emilia, which with on 1,150 seats is an acoustically ideal space for these works, Abbado and the Orchestra Mozart have committed to disc taut and exciting performances.
 
Violinist Giuliano Carmignola, known for many recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Archiv, leads the orchestra and acts as violin soloist.  He is joined by an impressive roster of other soloists including harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone, recorder virtuosa Michala Petri, trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich and others.  Employing period instruments, Orchestra Mozart liberates all the vitality embedded in Bach's notes creating an experience "as if you're hearing the music for the first time" (Classical Source).
 
Deutsche Grammophon is proud to continue its long association with maestro Abbado.  Last year saw the release of a 3-CD set of works by Pergolesi to celebrate the composer's 300th birthday anniversary.  2011 will see the maestro as conductor on Yuja Wang's orchestral debut album of works by Rachmaninov, with later releases to include the wind concerti of Mozart, a recording of Beethoven's Fidelio starring Jonas Kaufmann, and later a new release of Mozart piano concertos with Hélène Grimaud as soloist.
 

To post a comment, you must register and login.