This is a really great five-CD set. You get all of Bach's concertos except the Brandenburgs - which is a shame because Pinnock's Brandenburgs are terrific. Nonetheless, this remains an absolutely cracking collection of some of Bach's most enjoyable music in excellent performances. In the Harpsichord Concertos Pinnock is himself the soloist and shows why he is such a very well-liked and highly regarded musician. The music springs to life under his fingers (and under his direction) and many of these performances set new and enduring standards when first released in the early 1980s. They have informed much subsequent Bach playing and have worn extremely well themselves, sounding as fresh and involving as they did nearly 30 years ago. He is joined by other fine harpsichordists in the concerti for two, three and four harpsichords, (Kenneth Gilbert, Nicholas Kraemer and Lars Ulrich Mortensen) and the Concerto for Four Harpsichords in particular is an absolute joy.

If music… features star countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński performing 17 songs and arias by Baroque composers Purcell, Handel, and Fux. Accompanied not by a period ensemble but by pianist Michał Biel on a modern Steinway, the album explores both well-known and lesser-known repertoire. Orliński describes the collection as a personal artistic diary, reflecting his evolving interpretations and artistic growth, with works such as Handel’s Ombra mai fu and Purcell’s Cold Song exemplifying his refined and expressive approach.

This fabulous five disc set is replete with some of those old Stokowski warhorses all recorded in absolutely mind boggling Phase 4 sound, overblown perhaps but astounding for its time. Decca's remastering is absolutely magnificent and the discs are jam packed with almost six hours of music. This is another fine memorial to a great conductor who remained astonishingly vital until the very end of his life.

From 1957-1973 Werner recorded 55 of Bach's church cantatas as well as the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, the Christmas, Easter and Ascension Oratorios, the B minor Mass and the motets. MusicWeb stated, 'Werner's pacing of the (St. Matthew Passion) and his vision of it is compelling. The drama moves inexorably forward and the entire story is most movingly related.'

The Father, the Son and the Godfather is a snapshot from a time when art music escaped from the courts and churches. Domestic music-making in the company of close friends became a treasured extension of social interaction, and the resulting boom in ‘market opportunities’ offered composers a tremendous freedom in their choices of genres and styles, as demonstrated by this colourful programme. It features three composers whose music could not be more different, taking into account that all works were composed during the span of only two generations by authors who knew each other better than just well: J.S. Bach (the father), C.P.E. Bach (the son) and Georg Philipp Telemann (CPE’s godfather).

Piano Sonatas by Chopin (No 2) and Hough (No 4) are the twin peaks of a typically stimulating recital which—as always from Stephen Hough—spans centuries and styles with assurance. How often do Liszt’s ‘Funérailles’ and Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria’ share the same programme?Life is nothing if not unpredictable.

Anticipating the 50th anniversary of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2022, we present their complete recordings on DG. The intriguing sound culture of Orpheus, especially of the string section, is often explained as a result of the cooperative mindset of the orchestra and its artistic process of rehearsing.

This recording is the second volume devoted to Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin, performed by Hélène Schmitt (the first volume was released at the end of August 2005). It is one of the rare versions played on a Baroque violin (gut strings, curved bow…). These are archetypal works for solo violin, combining spirituality and virtuosity. Taking up a difficult challenge, Bach succeeds most admirably in obtaining polyphony from a monodic instrument.

These works, considered as masterpieces for solo violin, blend the spiritual dimension and great technical virtuosity. When writing these sonatas and partitas, Bach faced the challenge of writing a polyphonic work for a monodic instrument.

Following the Brandenburg Concertos, Sigiswald Kuijken now presents a new recording of the four Orchestral Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach with his ensemble La Petite Bande. Orchestral suites in the French style, in which the actual overture is always followed by a series of dances or characteristic movements, were quite well known during Bach's time at courts throughout Europe. The splendour of the Versailles court of Louis XIV and XV was imitated everywhere, and music was of great importance in this respect.

Hilary Hahn is among the world's greatest violinists of her or, arguably, any generation. She is one of those rare artists who possess both a colossal technique and interpretive acumen to set them apart from most of their rivals. Hahn had a major recording contract at 16, was named Best Young Classical Musician at 21 by Time Magazine, and by her mid-20s was generally ranked as one of the finest violinists in the world. Her repertory is broad, taking in many of the standards by J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, Paganini, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Barber. But she also plays a few works from the byways of the repertory, including the concertos of Schoenberg and contemporary American composer Edgar Meyer. Hahn declares a preference for Bach, expressing a deep reverence for his music while playing many of his works for solo violin, as well as concertos.

Eugene Istomin (1925–2003), one of America’s most respected pianists, was highly esteemed by audiences and colleagues alike for his mindful virtuosity and unusually wide-ranging repertoire. 2015 marks Istomin’s 90th birthday year, a milestone that Sony Classical celebrates with the first-ever release of his complete Columbia Masterworks concerto and solo recordings in a limited original-jacket collection including 10 previously unreleased studio recordings. Many of these performances appear in their first authorized CD editions, including the 19-year-old pianist’s recorded debut in Bach’s D minor Concerto led by Adolf Busch; his youthful concerto collaborations with Pablo Casals; Chopin’s complete Nocturnes; Brahms’s Handel Variations; Schubert’s D major D 850 Sonata, plus the long-out-of-print Rachmaninoff 2nd, Tchaikovsky 1st, Brahms 2nd, and Beethoven 4th and 5th (“Emperor”) Concertos with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Newly remastered from the original analogue tapes, the discs are presented in facsimile sleeves and labels corresponding to the original LP releases. An enclosed booklet offers full discographical information, an essay by Jed Distler, and a photographic retrospective.

How to Name It? is a groundbreaking 1985 instrumental fusion album by legendary Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja, reissued in 2010 by AGI Music. Serving as Ilaiyaraaja's landmark first instrumental fusion project, the album seamlessly bridges the gap between South Indian Carnatic classical music and Western baroque classical traditions. The musical movements are dedicated to two icons of classical composition: Tyagaraja (1767–1847), the revered Carnatic saint-composer, and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), featuring violin solos by V.S. Narasimhan that interweave Carnatic ragas with counterpoint, fugues, and Bachian preludes (including interpretations inspired by Bach's Preludium in E).

In his recording of Bach's 48 Colin Tilney, unlike his fellow competitors in the same repertory, plays both a clavichord (Book 1) and a harpsichord (Book 2). Why not? Bach's title for the first book of 24 preludes and fugues, The Well-tempered Clavier leaves both this issue and that of tuning wide open. The clavichord was a favourite instrument of Bach's, so was the harpsichord and the organ; indeed, I am sorry that Tilney does not include a chamber organ since some of the pieces, the E major Prelude and Fugue (Book 2), for instance, seem well-suited to it. Tilney's performance of the 48 differs again from almost if not all others in the sequence which he adopts in playing the preludes and fugues. But an apparently random approach is in fact nothing of the kind, but one that is directly linked with tuning. We know that Bach himself was a master in matters of tuning as he was in all other aspects of his craft. What we do not know is the exact nature of his tuning.

Igor Levit’s double album “Encounter” seeks sounds that give inner strength and support for the soul. In works by Bach to Max Reger, based on poignant vocal compositions, the desire for encounters and human togetherness is given expression – at a time when isolation is the order of the day. The result is a very personal recital.