http://www.harmoniamundi.com/uk/album_fiche.php?album_id=823 BACH (J.S.). Italian Concertos Italian Concerto BWV 971, transcriptions of Vivaldi and Marcello concertos by J.S. Bach BWV 973-75, 981, etc. Artists: Alexandre Tharaud, piano 1 CD HMC901871 2-2005 55'29 There was a time when notions of copyright did not exist. To reuse other people’s music without owing them anything was more than just the norm: it was a form of homage. There was a time when, with a view to acquiring new skills, Bach transcribed for organ or harpsichord concertos by Vivaldi, Torelli and the Marcello brothers; and these fine transcriptions led directly to one of his own masterpieces, the Italian Concerto. Paradoxically, this exercise was much later to be seen as betrayal, sacrilege, a crime against the integrity of the work. A plague on censors! Today’s musicians know that to perform Bach on the piano is not to betray him – on the contrary. Alexandre Tharaud has already successfully explored the harpsichord suites of Rameau on a Steinway; here, when he revisits the transpositions of the great Johann Sebastian Bach on the piano, it is enough to make us quite giddy with pleasure! CD 1 1 Sicilienne du Concerto en ré mineur / D minor /d-moll BWV 596 d'après Vivaldi Johann Sebastian Bach 2'29 2 Concerto en sol mineur / G minor / g-moll BWV 975 d'après Vivaldi, Concerto op.4 n°6 (RV316a) Johann Sebastian Bach 8'58 2 Allegro 2'47 3 Largo 4'01 4 Presto 2'10 5 Aria de la Pastorale en ut mineur / C minor /c-moll BWV 590 Johann Sebastian Bach 2'36 6 Concerto italien en Fa majeur / F major BWV 971 "Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto" F-dur (Klavierübung II) Johann Sebastian Bach 12'56 6 I. [Sans indication de tempo] 3'35 7 Andante 5'09 8 Presto 3'32 9 Concerto en ré mineur / D minor / d-moll BWV 974 d'après un concerto pour hautbois d'Alessandro Marcello Johann Sebastian Bach 10'03 9 Allegro 2'32 10 Adagio 4'13 11 Presto 3'18 12 Concerto en ut mineur / C minor / c-moll BWV 981 d'après Benedetto Marcello, Concerto pour violon en mi mineur op.1 n°2 Johann Sebastian Bach 10'10 12 Adagio 1'48 13 Vivace 1'37 14 Grave 2'54 15 Prestissimo 3'51 16 Concerto en Sol majeur / G major / G-dur BWV 973 d'après Vivaldi, Concerto op.7 livre II n°2 (RV299) Johann Sebastian Bach 6'54 16 Allegro 2'20 17 Largo 2'32 18 Allegro 2'02 19 Andante du Concerto en si mineur /B minor / h-moll BWV 979 d'après Torelli (?) Johann Sebastian Bach 3'25 http://www.amazon.com/Concertos-italiens-Johann-Sebastian-Bach/dp/B00070FTM2 Concertos italiens [IMPORT] Product Details * Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach * Performer: Alexandre Tharaud * Audio CD (March 8, 2005) * SPARS Code: DDD * Number of Discs: 1 * Format: Import * Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. * ASIN: B00070FTM2 1. Sicilienne Du Concerto In D Minor, BWV 596 2. Allegro 3. Largo 4. Presto 5. Arie De La Pastorale In C Minor, BWV 590 6. I. (Sans Indication De Temp) 7. Andante 8. Presto 9. Allegro 10. Adagio 11. Presto 12. Adagio 13. Vivace 14. Grave 15. Prestissimo 16. Allegro 17. Largo 18. Allegro 19. Andante Du Concerto In B Minor, BWV 979 On this CD: 1. Concerto for solo organ No. 5 in D minor (after Vivaldi Op. 3/11, RV 565), BWV 596 (BC J85) Sicilienne Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 2. Concerto for solo keyboard No. 4 in G minor (after Vivaldi Op. 4/6, RV 316), BWV 975 (BC L193) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 3. Pastorale for organ in F major, BWV 590 (BC J81) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 4. Italian Concerto, for solo keyboard in F major (Clavier-Übung II/1), BWV 971 (BC L7) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 5. Concerto for solo keyboard No. 3 in D minor (after Alessandro Marcello), BWV 974 (BC L194) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 6. Concerto for solo keyboard No. 10 in C minor (after Benedetto Marcello), BWV 981 (BC L195) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 7. Concerto for solo keyboard No. 2 in G major (after Vivaldi Op. 7/2, RV 299), BWV 973 (BC L191) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach with Alexandre Tharaud 8. Concerto for solo keyboard No. 8 in B minor (after Torelli), BWV 979 (BC L196) Andante Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=8658 ITALIAN CONCERTOS J.S. BACH Italian Concerto; Keyboard transcriptions from Vivaldi and Marcello Alexandre Tharaud (piano) Harmonia Mundi- HMC 901871(CD) Reference Recording - None for this coupling 10/10 Alexandre Tharaud is a remarkable pianist who has assembled a far-from-conventional program of Bach transcriptions based on Italian concertos, all of which serve to frame scintillating performances of the German composer's own Italian Concerto BWV 971. In this, the major work on the disc, Tharaud's rendition must be accounted one of the most successful available. In the outer movements, he correctly avails himself of every pianistic tool at his disposal, including beautifully proportioned gradations in dynamics, to clarify the distinction between solo and tutti passages, and the result has even more structural clarity (and therefore expressive point) then most performances on harpsichord. The central andante shows Tharaud sensitive (as he is in all of these slow movements) to the need to cultivate a true cantabile style of phrasing, with ornamentation that is just that: an embellishment and not an excess of decoration that buries the long, lyrical melodic line. There are many high points in the remaining works as well, but I have to give special mention to the Vivaldi Concerto in G minor BWV 975. The way Tharaud launches the work, gently, only gradually allowing the main tempo to emerge as the density of the writing increases, strikes me as absolutely brilliant and wholly in keeping with the character of the music, while his touch in the central Largo is breathtaking, the final bars simply exquisite. It's one of those movements that, taken out of context and played on the radio or in a film, could make this disc a runaway best-seller. The two Marcello-based concertos (BWV 974 and 981) make a well-contrasted pair, one on the standard fast-slow-fast pattern, the other in four movements with an opening Adagio. Vivaldi's short and peppy G major concerto BWV 973 makes a perfect conclusion, and there's even an encore, the Andante from BWV 979. This last item, taken in tandem with the delicious Sicilienne from BWV 596, and the smartly placed Aria de la Pastorale from BWV 590 (between the Vivaldi G minor and the Bach Italian Concerto), show the care with which Tharaud has assembled this program, which makes an absolutely perfect, satisfying whole when played straight through. Toss in ideally warm and lucid recorded sound, and the result impresses me as one of the finest Baroque keyboard recitals in many years, a masterpiece of programming and execution that will deliver hours and hours of listening pleasure. You will be enchanted. [3/1/2005] --David Hurwitz