Downloads
of Bach’s Orchestral Music: A Survey
As
a fairly recent convert to the world
of music downloads, I have been looking
at the available online versions of
J.S. Bach’s orchestral music. With
almost as many choices to download
as there are on CD, a little guidance
might be useful to the potential buyer.
I make no apology for concentrating
on performances using period instruments
or modern-instrument versions employing
some period techniques.
To begin
with the obvious: the Brandenburg
Concertos. Having lived with several
recordings in the age of LP, each
an improvement on the previous version,
from Karl Münchinger on Decca
Ace of Clubs onwards, I thought I
had found my ideal CD version with
The English Concert directed
by Trevor Pinnock – rather
short value with just three concertos
per CD in their original format, but
more recently reissued at mid-price
with fillers. In this reissued format,
these Brandenburgs are available from
Universal’s classicsandjazz.co.uk
website – Nos.1-3 with two oboe concertos
(471 720 2) and Nos.4-6 with the Triple
Concerto BWV1044 (474 220 2) – follow
this link
and type ‘Brandenburg’ into the search
box. Make sure that you buy the newer
versions – rather confusingly, the
original, less generous couplings
are also available for the same price.
These versions have served me very
well since soon after the beginning
of the CD era, as have the English
Concert versions of Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons, and I cannot imagine
anyone being seriously unhappy with
their purchase.
There
is, in fact, a bewildering choice
on just the Universal website, all
available for £7.90 per CD in mp3
or wma format. Those who like their
Bach to be ultra-lively may prefer
the version by Musica Antiqua Köln:
I tried their Concerto No.2 and, though
I imagine that some would find Reinhard
Goebel’s tempi a little too fast
and furious in places, I certainly
wouldn’t rule it out of court. (1-3
on 447 287 2; 4-6 with Suite No.4
on 447 288 2). Ultimately, however,
I find myself preferring Goebel’s
Telemann recordings to his Bach. See
the review
of this recording in one of its CD
reissues by DW, who is a greater fan
of Goebel’s Bach than I am.
Other
honourable mentions must go to the
Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher
Hogwood (458 069 2) but, at £14.99
this strikes me as over-priced when
the equivalent 2-CD set is widely
available for less than that price.
The same applies to the New London
Consort/Philip Pickett (440 675
2) and Academy of St Martin’s/Neville
Marriner (468 549 2) versions,
as also to the English Chamber
Orchestra/Benjamin Britten set
(443 847 2) which now almost qualifies
as an historic document – all rather
over-priced at £14.99.
The
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert
von Karajan set is not only too
expensive – in fact, bizarrely, it’s
available both for £14.99 and for
£9.99, the cheaper version adding
Orchestral Suites 2 and 3. Few now
will warm to its big-band style. If
you must have Karajan, go for the
cheaper, better-filled version (453
001 2). I Musici (438 317 2)
are less expensive (£9.99 for the
complete set) but their Bach has not
stood the test of time well. If it’s
Brandenburgs from the older school
that you want, go for the Munich
Bach Orchestra/Karl Richter in
Nos. 1-3 with BWV1055 and 1064 (463
011 2) (£7.90) or as a complete set
(427 143 2, £14.99), very good in
their own terms, as KM’s review
makes clear.
Most,
if not all, of these Universal recordings
of the Brandenburgs are also available
from Apple iTunes: the Pinnock, Goebel
and Karajan recordings, for example,
at £7.99 per CD, the 2-CD ASMF set
for £15.99, which makes them slightly
more expensive than their equivalents
on classicsandjazz.co.uk. (No catalogue
numbers on iTunes.)
The
Warner Classics website (www.warner.freshdigital.co.uk)
also offers several fine versions
of the Brandenburgs. There’s more
Karl Richter here (with the
Richter Chamber Orchestra)
as well as Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus
Harnoncourt but the ‘safest’ recommendation
is to go for the 1992 Erato version
with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
under Ton Koopman – very fine
middle-of-the-road period-instrument
interpretations in Koopman’s best
manner: follow link
to the relevant page. His recordings
are available on two separate Apex
issues at £3.00 each or as the equivalent
of a 2-CD set for £5.00 – the latter
excellent value (0630-13733-6), except
that the advertised filler, the so-called
Organ Concerto in d, BWV1059,
turns out to be a repeat of the three
tracks of Brandenburg No.2. I have
drawn this problem to the attention
of Warner Digital and I hope that
they will rectify matters, but try
the preview button before you buy.
To be
fair to Warner Digital, they offered
me in compensation a free download
of their version by Il Giardino
Armonico under Giovanni Antonini
– 4509-98442-6: follow link.
This is a less ‘safe’ version than
the Koopman – in fact, it’s really
for those who like to live a little
dangerously – but I found myself preferring
it. Don’t be put off by some rather
unpleasant and strident horn playing
at the beginning: it does get (much)
better. This is about as far removed
from that old Münchinger ACL
recording (or Karajan’s big-band Bach)
as you can get.
A
word of warning about Warner downloads
– they come as wma files, which means
that you get better sound quality
than from mp3, but it does limit where
you can play them: not all mp3 players
can cope with wma, though my Archos
is perfectly happy with this format.
Nor will programmes like Roxio Disc
Creator recognise the files to burn
them to CDR or convert them to mp3,
since they are ‘locked’ and can be
opened, in my experience, only via
Windows Media Player, with its annoying
habit of inserting gaps between tracks.
Each purchase comes with the right
to open the files on three players
– every time you want to play them
on a new machine, you have to have
a live internet link, for the programme
to open one of the three licences.
Now that all the other providers whom
I mention here have banished DRM,
this makes Warner downloads more awkward.
If it’s
Italian performers that you’re looking
for, you may prefer Concerto Italiano
under Rinaldo Alessandrini, a
Naïve recording (OP30412)
on emusic.com – follow the link
to the page. You’ll need to sign up
with emusic first, following which
you’ll get free downloads, even if
you decide not to join. If you do
join, a monthly subscription will
buy you the right to a certain number
of tracks – for example £11.99 buys
50 tracks per month, which works out
at under £1 for a 4-movement symphony.
That means that you get the Alessandrini
Brandenburgs for just over £6 – mp3
only, but I haven’t found anything
on emusic at less than 192kbps and
much of their music is at 320kbps.
This recording is also available from
itunes for £15.99.
The
Bach Collegium of Japan/Masaaki
Suzuki have won golden opinions
for their Bach Cantata recordings.
Their versions of the Brandenburgs
(BISCD 1151-2) are also very well
worth considering, 20 tracks of your
monthly subscription from emusic –
follow link
– or from another favourite site,
classicsonline.com for £19.98 – follow
link.
This BIS set includes an early version
of a movement of the Fifth Brandenburg,
but if you are looking for a first-rate
version of this concerto alone, try
Volume 1 of the Chandos complete harpsichord
concertos, of which more below.
I end
as I began, with Trevor Pinnock
and his recent re-make with the European
Brandenburg Ensemble on the Avie
label. This, too, is available from
emusic – follow the link
– and also from the Chandos website,
theclassicalshop.net, as a 320kbps
mp3 download at £7.20 per CD – follow
link.
classicsonline.com offer the set complete
for £19.98 – follow link
– which is less competitive than emusic
and theclassicalshop, especially bearing
in mind that classicsonline offer
some of Chandos’s recordings more
cheaply than Chandos themselves and
when the CDs are available from Avie
and from dealers for less than £19.98.
see MusicWeb
review by Jens Laurson
Like
those original DG Archiv issues, this
Avie version comes without fillers,
so it isn’t such good value as some
of the versions I’ve mentioned, but
it is worth every penny. I never thought
that Pinnock could improve on his
original versions, but I’m so thoroughly
convinced by his second thoughts that
these versions now replace everything
else in my affections. I shall still
want to hear the Koopman, Antonini
and Alessandrini accounts and Pinnock’s
own earlier versions, but this new
Avie set now becomes my version of
choice. If you can’t be bothered to
download it, I urge you to buy it
on CD (AV2119). See the Musicweb review
of a concert performance of the Brandenburgs
by these performers and JFL’s less
enthusiastic review
of the CDs.
I
haven’t been able to locate a download
version of the AAM/Manze performances
which JFL prefers – they aren’t among
the Harmonia Mundi recordings available
on emusic, but I have just heard the
Radio 3 broadcast of the performances
which the AAM gave under their new
director, Richard Egarr, at the Wigmore
Hall in May 2008. I expected these
to be so good that they would become
my benchmark but, in the event, was
disappointed: some excellent moments
but I felt that the music was often
being pushed harder than it warranted
and the horns at the opening of Concerto
No.1 are even more painful to listen
to than on the Giardino Armonico recording.
Nowadays
the Orchestral Suites receive
almost as much attention as the Brandenburgs.
The Universal classicsandjazz
site (type
‘Bach Orchestral Suites’ into the
search box) again has a wide range
to offer: Karl Münchinger’s
1986 version (448 231 2) for the nostalgic
or those who like old-school performances,
ASMF/Marriner (430 378 2) for
those who are looking for a middle-of-the-road
interpretation – this Decca recording
on one CD can be strongly recommended
in any format: it’s the version I
play when I don’t especially want
‘authenticity’ – and the English
Concert/Pinnock in various permutations
for the authenticists (three different
catalogue numbers: go for 463 013
2). Some reviewers have felt that
this Pinnock version is a little lacking
in dignity but I have happily lived
with it in CD format for a long time.
I haven’t heard either the ASMF or
English Concert versions as downloads,
only as CDs, but I have never had
problems with downloads from this
site, especially with the wma versions.
All these are on offer at £7.90, which
makes their AAM/Hogwood version
(458 069 2) seem over-priced at £14.99,
even with fillers – better value purchased
as a lower-mid-price CD set. itunes
offer the ASMF and Pinnock versions
for £7.99 each.
Warner
Digital offer Ton Koopman’s
Suites with the Amsterdam Baroque
Orchestra. Like his Brandenburgs,
these are very reliable interpretations
– 0630-17868-6: follow link
– and very good value at £5, but remember
my earlier caveat concerning their
DMR wma format. itunes also offer
this Koopman recording for £5.49.
itunes
also offer the Brandenburg Consort/Roy
Goodman version on Hyperion Dyad
for £15.99, a good recording which
nevertheless seems to me over-priced,
since this version is generally available
from online dealers in physical CD
form for less than this.
Best
of all are probably the Bach Collegium/Masaaki
Suzuki interpretations, from emusic
(24 tracks of your subscription –
follow link)
or classicsonline (good value in 320kbps
mp3format at £9.99 – follow link).
These versions have now become my
standard listening for the Orchestral
Suites. Though in mp3 only, my ears
find them perfectly acceptable, but
younger, sharper hearing may notice
a small degree of congestion at climaxes.
Incidentally, I have always found
emusic prompt to add bonus tracks
to my account for anything which proved
to have technical flaws. Apple’s price
of £15.99 for this recording seems
too high by comparison with classicsonline:
I cannot imagine that their itunes
plus format can be much, if any, superior
to 320kbps.
Of the
versions of the Violin Concertos
offered on the classicsonline site
– follow link
and type ‘Bach Violin Concertos’ into
the search box – those by Arthur
Grumiaux (420 700 2) should
more than satisfy those seeking a
modern-instrument account and those
by Simon Standage, The English
Concert and Trevor Pinnock
the authenticists – the latter in
a choice of couplings (410 646 2 or
463 014 2) – at £7.90 each. David
Oistrakh at the same price (419
855 2) offers a ‘traditional’ alternative
to both, while for £9.99 Viktoria
Mullova (475 7451) couples the
Concertos with three of the solo Partitas.
My colleague AN thought the version
by Hilary Hahn, also available
from Universal, technically excellent
but not well considered – 474 199
2: see review.
itunes also offer the Oistrakh, Hahn
and Standage versions for £7.99 each
and the Mullova for £10.99. Avoid
the Salvatore Accardo recording
– the illogicality of Universal’s
one-price-fits-all policy for downloads
makes this much more expensive than
the CD equivalent on Eloquence (£7.90
as against £5-6).
The
well-liked version by Daniel Hope
with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe
– modern instruments but influenced
by ‘period’ performance thinking –
is available from Warner Digital –
2564-62545-6: follow link
– for £8. (But remember the DRM/wma
limitations.) Those who like period
instruments will prefer Andrew
Manze with the Academy of Ancient
Music in a Harmonia Mundi recording
(HMU90 7155) on itunes for a penny
less.
Once
again, however, those seeking a version
on authentic instruments are most
likely to be satisfied by the Bach
Collegium/Masaaki Suzuki, with
Ryo Terakado, etc. – 12 tracks
on emusic – follow link
– or £9.99 from classicsonline – follow
link.
The latter is at 320kbps, I’m not
sure about the emusic offering. For
once, the itunes price of £7.99 seems
more competitive than classicsonline,
especially as this is an itunes plus
recording. (BISCD961)
Ton
Koopman on Warner offers four
of the Harpsichord Concertos
(Nos.1, 2, 5 and 6, 2564-60329-6)
– follow link
– for £3 (but in DRM wma format only).
There is a Richard Egarr/Academy
of Ancient Music/Andrew Manze set
of the solo harpsichord concertos
plus the Triple Concerto, BWV1044
(HMU90 7283.84), on emusic, 24 tracks
of your monthly allocation for the
equivalent of two CDs – follow link.
These are both well worth considering.
My strongest recommendation for these
works, however, must rest with the
Chandos recordings made by Robert
Wooley (with assistance from Paul
Nicholson and others in the multiple
concertos) and the augmented Purcell
Quartet.
This
runs to four discs as opposed to three
for most similar collections, but
you get the Fifth Brandenburg thrown
in on the first disc – a harpsichord
concerto in all but name, especially
as it is performed here – and the
performances are superb. I am amazed
that music-making of this quality
appears to have been deleted on CD
and all the more grateful, therefore,
that Chandos have made them available
as downloads: all are on offer from
theclassicalshop in mp3 format (£6)
and some of the volumes also in lossless
format (£10) – CHAN0595, CHAN0611,
CHAN0636 and CHAN0641. It’s no exaggeration
that these performances bowled me
over completely, with the players
‘nudging’ and ‘leaning on’ the music
very subtly and totally delectably.
The booklets of notes for this series,
with Brueghel illustrations on the
covers, are a delight. None of the
other downloads which I have mentioned
come with such fine notes – in most
case, none at all.
Piano
fanciers should note that I have included
only harpsichord versions in this
list, though I might make an exception
for Angela Hewitt’s Hyperion versions
from itunes – available as two separate
recordings at £7.99 each (CDA67307
and 67308) or as a single album for
£15.99.
The
English Concert/Trevor Pinnock
set on DG Archiv (471 754 2), hitherto
my staple for these works – available
on classicsandjazz and good value
at £14.99 for the equivalent of 3
CDs – and the Koopman recordings to
which I have referred are now replaced
in my affections by these Chandos
recordings. Even if you think downloading
too much of a nuisance – it can be
like watching paint dry – their unavailability
on CD makes it worthwhile to make
the effort to acquire them.
You
might also wish to consider the two
revelatory Chandos recordings of Bach’s
early cantatas made by Emma Kirkby
et al with the augmented Purcell
Quartet. I hope to provide a separate
review of these in due course, or
include them in a future round-up
of Bach’s cantatas as downloads. Meanwhile,
I cannot speak too highly of them:
CHAN0715 and CHAN0742, £8.40 as mp3s
and £10 in lossless format from theclassicalshop.
I
hope that this brief résumé
has provided food for thought, though
I cannot pretend that it has been
a thorough review – nothing from EMI,
whose download mechanism seems totally
at odds with Windows Vista; despite
my following all the instructions
on their website and the advice offered
when I phoned them – they were very
polite and did their best to be helpful
– one track of the only recording
I ordered from them resolutely and
repeatedly failed to download, leaving
me with the sole option of ordering
the CD, which proved to be considerably
cheaper than the price of the download.
Details
of availability and prices were correct
at the time of writing in early July
2008. Always remember to check these
and catalogue numbers before ordering,
of course.
Finally,
if you really want to go to town on
downloaded Bach, Hänssler have
just released the Bachpod
– an 80GB ipod with all of JSB’s music
pre-loaded and plenty of spare space
to add more music. I haven’t mentioned
these Hänssler recordings, mostly
made with Helmuth Rilling at the helm,
though they are good ‘also-rans’ in
just about every category and you
can find many of their recordings
of Bach’s music on the classicsonline
website (type ‘Haenssler Bach’ into
the search box) and on emusic. Rilling’s
Cantatas are especially competitive,
but that’s one that I’m saving for
my Cantata overview.
Brian Wilson
