Given the high critical profile and large sales of Brilliant Classics’ complete Mozart edition, the label wasted no time downsizing its 2000 complete Bach set to similar dimensions, both in terms of shelf space and consumer cost. Roughly two-thirds of the performances were especially made for this project, while the remainder was licensed from various labels in recordings dating as far back as the early 1970s. New recordings have replaced nine discs from the earlier set, a decision not always for the better. For example, Musica Amphion’s Brandenburg Concertos are relatively lightweight and underplayed next to the far more incisive and committed Consort of London accounts from Brilliant’s 2000 edition. In the Cello Suites, Jaap ter Linden’s overly intimate, low-voltage playing conveys less emotional impact than Robert Cohen’s expansive (if sometimes idiosyncratic) individuality. But the vibrant Orchestral Suites with La Stravaganza Köln led by Andrew Manze stand with the best available.
Similarly, the instrumental offerings hit and miss, particularly in the keyboard works, all played on harpsichord, by the way. In the Well-Tempered Clavier, Léon Berben brings fleet and firm authority to some pieces, yet approaches others as if he were sight-reading–such as how Book I’s B minor fugue starts at a heavy crawl and gradually speeds up. While Pieter-Jan Belder’s decent traversals of the Partitas, Goldberg Variations, and Italian Concerto should please general collectors, connoisseurs truly will delight in Bob van Asperen’s English Suites and, better still, Joseph Payne’s stunning French Suites, originally on BIS. BIS provides the source for Jakob Lindberg’s Lute Suites (long considered a reference version), as well as Hans Fagius’ magnificent 17-disc survey of Bach’s organ music. After such heights of excellence, you’ll not want to bother with Mark Lubotsky’s wobbly, enervated solo violin Sonatas and Partitas.
The meat and potatoes of this collection (indeed, of Bach’s prolific output) lies within the composer’s 200 surviving sacred cantatas, featuring Pieter Jan Leusink leading the Holland Boys Choir, the Netherlands Bach Collegium, and a fairly regular stable of soloists, who recorded the cycle at white heat over 15 months, with minimum editing. No doubt that this ambitious schedule yielded rough patches, such as variable execution of high trumpet passages and skewed instrumental balances (BWV 29’s vaguely defined Sinfonia, for instance). On the other hand, the chorus is beautifully recorded and well rehearsed. Soprano Marjon Strijk’s reedy, boy-like timbre takes getting used to, but alto Syste Buwalda’s focused timbre and excellent musicianship is a major asset alongside Bas Ramselaar’s sonorous recitatives and arias.
However, to hear unambiguously gorgeous solo singing, turn to the secular cantatas, where the likes of Peter Schreier, Edith Mathis, Arlene Auger, and Theo Adam hold court. Notable also are period performances of the Passions (the Brandenburg Consort) and a polished B minor Mass (Harry Christophers and the Sixteen).
Prospective buyers may wonder how this blockbuster release stacks up next to the more expensive Hänssler Bach Akademie Edition. The latter sustains a higher level of sonic and interpretive excellence throughout, embraces a wider stylistic gamut, showcases a carefully curated range of artists, and includes painstakingly researched annotations. Then again, Brilliant Classics’ rock-bottom list price ($139.98–less than a dollar per disc) may be your deciding factor. It certainly falls within the budget of most university and music school libraries, and makes for a housewarming or holiday gift that all serious music lovers would appreciate.
