Search - Peter Schickele, Jorge Mester, Royal P.D.Q. Bach Festival Orchestra :: An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall

Beth G. from GOSHEN, IN
Reviewed on 8/21/2006...

If you've never heard PDQ Bach before, you may be a little weirded out. Humorous and punny.

Probably the funniest PDQ Bach recording ever made...

Mark Swinton | 10/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the ultimate CD to get for unabashed amusement! It is a live concert recording hosted by Professor Peter Schickele, the man who single-handedly unleashed J.S. Bach's "forgotten" son onto the musical world some years ago and who has kept audiences in stitches with "newly-discovered" works and performances of them using a host of "authentic instruments" - for instance, this CD is the only one I've ever come across that includes music for bicycle, bagpipes and balloons...My former composition tutor possesses a copy of the first item in the programme, "The Seasonings," an oratorio that can best be described as a crazy fusion of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and Handel's "Messiah." Hearing that score come to life in this recording had me laughing just as much as the live audience: particular moments including the line "Soothsayer, say unto me the sooth," and the aria "Open Sesame seeds" for solo bass (which includes a passage that is physically impossible to sing unless you happen to be a Russian octavist!). The programme closes with the "Pervertimento" (not the composer's own title, apparently) for bicycle, droneless bagpipes and balloons with kazoos attached. This too is an utter hilarity: the entrance of the wheezy bicycle siren in the second movement (over implacably graceful string music) never fails to evoke a giggle! In between these two works comes one of Peter Schickele's own works: "The Unbegun Symphony" which consists of a minuet and a finale but nothing else. This is not as arresting as the other two works, but it fills up the programme very well, complementing the PDQ Bach items and providing no less amusing moments.If you only ever buy one PDQ Bach record, it might as well be this one. Endless fun, particularly for musicians who like to take the plunge now and then..."

A wonderful way to spend your thyme, er, time

Nicholas Edwards | Belchertown, MA United States | 10/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All the bases have been covered, but I can't resist adding my voice to the chorus of approval. I have loved this music ever since I was very young, and find it still funnier, wittier,

and musically fine after being on the other side of a few college courses in musical theory. THE SEASONINGS is perhaps Shickele's most brilliant parody - the orchestra and soloists are superb. And how can we forget the brilliant contributions of the O.K. Chorale, particularly in the boisterous Handelian closing chorus, "To curry favor, favor curry"?"