Channel Classics - SACD Hybrid Stereo / Multichannel  

Rachel Podger and her colleagues are justly celebrated as exceptional artists in the period performance field and they deliver wonderfully expressive performances of each of the eighteen fugues and canons that make up Bach's astonishing work with a technical finesse that is beyond reproach. The varied combinations of string instruments used here add spice and variety to each of the pieces. There is a rich mellownness to the string sounds and throughout the players ensure that every line is clearly defined so one can follow even the most complex strands with ease. Special praise is due to Marcin Świątkiewicz for the fluent and thoughtful playing of his two alloted solos, the Canon alla Duodecima (tr.13) and Canon alla Decima (tr.15). The final fugue (Contrapunctus14) is performed unfinished, as Bach left it, a poignant reminder of the transience of life. It need hardly be stated that Jared Sacks's multi-channel DSD recording is, as always, state-of-the-art, capturing the warm acoustic of London's Church of Saint Jude-on-the- Hill to perfection and giving the instruments an almost holographic vividness set within a realistic sound stage. Scholarly and thought provoking notes by John Butt complete a most desirable issue. Sound 5/5 Hraudionet

Bach, J S: The Art of Fugue, BWV1080

Rachel Podger (violin)

Brecon Baroque

This is not an interpretation that wants to grab you by the lapels…but rather one which by its natural ebb and flow aims to draw you stealthily into the music and have you breathe with it, so... — Gramophone Magazine