Wendy Carlos' electronic realizations of Bach and other Baroque giants set the classical music world on its ear 30 years ago with the release of Switched-On Bach. This Grammy-winning best seller was followed up with The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, Switched-On Bach II, and Switched-On Brandenburgs. They are now remastered from the original master tapes, bundled with an enhanced CD filled with MIDI files of Carlos' Bach performances. More than 200 pages of annotations tell you everything you'll ever want to know about how each album came about, and offer a complete history of Carlos' home studio equipment, upgrade by upgrade. While the electronically-derived sonorities may hardly sound novel to younger ears, the interpretations have aged remarkably well. Timbres are unfailingly attuned to the music's inner rhythms and emotional qualities, as well as Carlos' choice of tempos throughout. The Sixth Brandenburg Concerto's thick string writing, for instance, emerges with greater transparency and shapeliness than many "real" instrument versions on the market, and the "panning" effects gracing a selection of Scarlatti sonatas are purposeful rather than gimmicky. Intelligence, musicianship, and wit inform each and every selection on these four discs, which remain proud landmarks in the history of electronic music on record.

--Jed Distler