Bach: Concerto in C Minor.

Concerto in C

In my college days, I was drawn to Bach by a piano transcription of his Concerto in C Minor for two harpsichords, played by Arthur Schnabel and his son Karl Ulrich. The texture was pianistic and the approach hardly baroque, but it was very appealing. Now it can be heard, along with three other double concertos of Bach in authentic rendition and on authentic instruments by Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Instruments (L'Oiseau Lyre 421 500-2). Above all these concertos--there are two for harpischord, one for violin, and one for violin and oboe--satisfy. Other composers may stimulate us to peaks of excitement, but J. S. Bach is solid, four-square, and reliable. Hogwood not only directs but takes a turn at the harpsichord--and he gives us a recording that is eminently satisfying.

I highly commend to you digitally re-mastered old recordings on the CBS Odyssey series of reissues--Leopold Stokowski conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony (CBS MBK 39498) and Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, Lieutenant Kije, and the Love for Three Oranges suites (CBS MBK 39783). These are rousing performances and remind us of what a master of recording techniques Stokowski was, and how great was the combination of Ormandy and the Philadelphia.