Details: This rich set of music by J.S. Bach (or connected to
him by attribution or publication) and transcribed
for the guitar provides a stunning example of the
versatility of the composer's music, the
unquestionable genius of which renders it
universally successful on any instrument with
polyphonic capabilities (solo string instruments
included).
Luigi Attademo and Stefano Cardi provide an eclectic
selection of Bach pieces in successful transcriptions
by themselves and virtuoso classical guitarist and
arranger David Russell. This is followed by a large set
from Anna Magdalena's Notebook performed and
transcribed by Jan Depreter, and complete sets of
the Violin Sonatas & Partitas and Lute Suites by
Franceso Teopini and Attademo, respectively. In the
words of the performer on Disc 1, Luigi Attademo:
'the guitar as we know it today didn't exist in Bach's
time, and although there was certainly a baroque
guitar, it was not widespread in Germany. The
baroque lute was the string instrument closest to
Bach, and there was certainly one in his collection of
instruments, though he probably didn't play it. In any
event he knew a number of lutenists, including L.
Krebs. But we are not using Bach's proximity to the
lute to justify transcriptions for the guitar, rather
pointing out that on various occasions he transcribed
music originally composed for a given instrument in
arrangements for a similar but different instrument.'
In Cardi's set on Disc 2, the sound of the guitar, it's
rich dynamics and full polyphonic capacity are
exploited for creating performances of some of the
harpsichord pieces composed mainly for teaching
purposes in Bach's Cöthen period (1717-23) or in
his early Leipzig years. The rather varied content
also leaves room for pieces by other composers,
such as a Suite by Georg Philipp Telemann (whose
Corrente is featured in this recording) and a Partita
by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, where the central
part of the Minuet, the Trio, was composed by J.S.
Bach. Disc 3 features selections from Depreter's
transcription of the entire second Notenbüchlein
für Anna-Magdalena Bach (1725) for classical
guitar, made during his studies. The project to
record it all spanned two decades but benefits
from the continuity of having the same recording
producer and engineer, Peter de Wint, and the
same microphones and recording material through
all the sessions.
Teopini's recording of the Sonatas and Partitas
BWV1001-6 on Discs 4 & 5 was born from his
conviction that such masterpieces are now a
mandatory part of a guitarist's repertoire for the
sake of personal development. His transcription
faithfully complies with the original notation, in
order to not corrupt the implied counterpoint
created by Bach, yet his instrumental approach to
the works is conceived with the aim of justifying
an interpretation of the works on an instrument as
unnatural for Baroque music as the modern
classical guitar surely is, therefore viewing the
instrument as a hybrid of both the violin and the
harpsichord. The right hand takes the role of the
latter, and Teopini carefully avoided using rest
stroke throughout the recording, making sure that
even the most expressive passages were realized with a
free stroke technique The left hand is approached as a
violinist would, holding the notes and using open strings
as much as possible and arranging fingerings to promote
tonal uniformity of all phrases, especially where
sequential modulations occur.
Attademo's recording of the Lute Music, on Disc 6, aims
to bring to the fore the richness of Bach's music without
denying the lapse of time that separates his time from
ours. For that reason, the recording focuses on the study
of Baroque performance practice, on the peculiarities of
the author's writing, on secondary sources that indicate
how Bach's music was originally played, and on the
musical styles that Bach referred to and synthesised. As
well as the four Suites for lute, the Prelude, Fugue &
Allegro BWV998, Prelude BWV999 and Fugue BWV1000
are included.
