NY Diary (19-4) Bach, Musica Antiqua Koln and Reinhard Goebel

Readers who read my classical recommendations know that I just cannot have enough Bach. It would not be stretching it to say I feel he occupies just as important a place in my heart as audio. Fortunately, the two complement each other.

Musica Antiqua Koln (MAK), the trail blazing early music ensemble under the leadership of violinist Reinhard Goebel, which dissolved in 2006, to me has never made a bad recording. In the early days of historically informed performance (HIP), although there were quite a few contemporaneous English ensembles (like the English Concert or Academy of Ancient Music), the MAK's driven ways and sheer virtuosity has always been surpassing. Indeed their Bach recordings, now still available in a super-bargain 13 CD box (from Universal), is indispensable. Grab it while you can.

The Brandenburg Concertos in that box has always divided opinions, being of extremely fast tempi and lean aesthetics, and is still a daunting listen today, when fast tempi are more common. The set also has a sterling account of the lofty Art of the Fugue. In my sidebar, I also recommended another version of the piece, but the MAK's more austere approach here is just as valid.

Goebel is today more of a conductor, and I just savored repeatedly his recent Brandenburg Concerto (from the library) set (from Sony) with the Berliner Barock Solisten (comprising members of the BPO, but playing in HIP-informed ways). Tempi are just as fast, but I find the playing literally even more breathtakingly virtuosic. The momentum is now better sprung and the dance elements are more noticeable. Indeed there is just a more color to the proceedings. At the same time, I also heard the Chailly/Gewandhaus set, but though not without interest, it did not capture my attention nearly as much as this one. Recommended without any hesitation.

Just like the Sony CD, there is a much later MAK recording of Art of the Fugue, likely recorded not long before they dissolved, but it is on DVD (from Berlin Classics, and still available). The MAK played in the stunning Langen Foundation (a museum near Dusseldorf) designed by renowned architect Tadao Ando. Not only is the playing definitive, but the photography and conceptual layout are so impressive as to illustrate why sometimes (even non-vocal) music benefits from well integrated imagery. Embedded below is an almost complete youtube offering.