Kennedy, the violinist formerly known as Nigel Kennedy, has a well-earned reputation as the bad boy of classical music. His defiantly anti-Establishment antics anger traditionalists and tickle the rebellious. This venture ... more »into the Bach canon will confirm both camps in their views. Traditionalists will fume at such excesses as the exaggerated, ugly flourish at the end of the E Major Concerto and the supersonic speeds adopted for the Allegro movement of the two-violin Concerto among much else, including the puzzle-booklet more appropriate to a pop release. Kennedy's fans, though, will relish those elements of what is an ultimately fairly straightforward set of Bach interpretations enlivened by personal touches, a string sound that owes much to "authentic instrument" practices, and zippy speeds that make for exciting listening. Bachians won't be swerved from their allegiance to their favorite recordings of this repertory, among them Grumiaux's humane, traditional approach and Manze's freewheeling period performances. --Dan Davis« less
Kennedy, the violinist formerly known as Nigel Kennedy, has a well-earned reputation as the bad boy of classical music. His defiantly anti-Establishment antics anger traditionalists and tickle the rebellious. This venture into the Bach canon will confirm both camps in their views. Traditionalists will fume at such excesses as the exaggerated, ugly flourish at the end of the E Major Concerto and the supersonic speeds adopted for the Allegro movement of the two-violin Concerto among much else, including the puzzle-booklet more appropriate to a pop release. Kennedy's fans, though, will relish those elements of what is an ultimately fairly straightforward set of Bach interpretations enlivened by personal touches, a string sound that owes much to "authentic instrument" practices, and zippy speeds that make for exciting listening. Bachians won't be swerved from their allegiance to their favorite recordings of this repertory, among them Grumiaux's humane, traditional approach and Manze's freewheeling period performances. --Dan Davis
CD Reviews
Kennedy serves the music, not his status.
P. Rah | Sion, Switzerland | 03/13/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Kennedy in Bach?! That's the last thing I expected him to play, but I was wrong. I also doubted whether he would suit Bach's music, but he does. He plays with freedom that almost borders on jazz improvisations, but he does not go overboard, as he often does (as in the Vivaldi Four Seasons, his best selling record). Another thing that I certainly didn't expect was that the orchestra playing with Kennedy was none other than the Berlin Philharmonic!!!!!!!! This again raised the question of compatibility:would the BPO like Kennedy's free-style style? It seems on this record that they love what he does, which is not your usual sort of Bach playing. This was a delightful disc to listen to. He fully immerses himself into the music, which can be heard from the start of the first track, the E major violin concerto. I was struck by what I heard. This was no romantic treatment of this much-loved piece, but it wasn't that authentic in approach either. It was simple music making, without any soloistic egoism shown in the playing of this enfant terribile of music. He makes the music flow without any residual heaviness. The violin is well placed, sharing the spotlight with the orchestra, unlike many recordings where the soloist is too close or too far away to be heard properly. In my opinion, his musicality is similar to that of Jacqueline du Pre's (also English). They share in common an uninhibited sense of joy in what they do musically, and this record is a great example of what he can do, without any excess. Kennedy's tone, which can sound harsh, sounds perfectly round for this kind of music. He used to make harsh sounds for effect in the Four Seasons, but he refrains from doing so this time. Apart from the E major concerto, the other solo violin concderto to be featured is the one in a minor. Here the tempi can be a litle fast, especially in the last movement, which is too fast for my taste, but the BPO seems undaunted by it (after all, this is the Berlin Philharmonic which can play anything well!) The Double concertos are played with great aplomb. It is simply electric - especially in the Two-Violin Concerto, where the two solists hit it together in an incredibly way, and the orchestra responds to the energy as well - and the soloists (other than Kennedy) are superb. They have a wonderful sense of style, but they are flexible enough to communicate with Kennedy. Overall, a fine disc of great music making, almost chamber-like in quality, the soloist/s talking to the orchestra and vice versa. The packaging is very lavish, with very glossy paper reserved for special edition releases (for example on the recent Maria Callas 2-CD compilation "Popular Music from TV, Commercials...".)by EMI. Interestingly, this was recorded in analogue mode (ADD), which surprised me a little, but I then realised that his recordings have been ADD, from his second recording of the Elgar violin concerto (with Sir Simon Rattle). The recording has the 1970s warmth to it, which was the chracteristic of the Berlin Phil's recordings of that era (and incidentally it was recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, where most Berlin Phil recordings were made until 1975). Enjoy this disc, if you feel like some simple music making to soothe and excite your ears."
Kennedy kicks...!
Dom | United Kingdom | 01/09/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Kennedy is the housewives choice of classical artist. For this reason I have often stayed well clear. But this a superb recording of my favorite piece of classical music. I used to have it on a budget Naxos CD - that has now been consigned to the bin - this is a great CD. - Track 3 is inspirational!"
Master Nigel
Aleksis Raza | London, England | 12/06/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I must admit that when it comes to the violin, I always look for a Kennedy recording first. They say that certain virtuosos of the instrument can interpret the compositions of certain composers - but in my book Kennedy's the exception: he'll enthral you with a Hendrix rock song (or one of his own, sadly underrated, works from "Kafka") or amaze you with a Bach partita. Since his heady days in the wake of the Vivaldi Four seasons, however, it's in live performances where I truly believe Kennedy feels most comfortable and performs the best. So this eagerly anticipated studio album of such well known works had a lot to live up to: and it does. The double violin concerto as presented here is truly outstanding stuff, all credit be due to Daniel Stabrawa. The violin concerto No 2 on the other hand has been so over-done in recent years that its difficult to pass judgement. But the real gems on the album are the concerto No 1 and the concerto for violin and oboe, and it's one of the qualities of this album to see this repertoire brought to the limelight. I have to admit that until this recording I was sadly unfamiliar with the latter of these works. And it was an utter delight to be exposed to it by someone who probably parallels Gould on Bach, with a violin instead of a piano."
Stylish & Lively Performance
Lai Chun Pin Patrick | Tsimsahstsui Hong Kong | 07/21/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"You won't expect a fervent intepretation of Bach from Kennedy and probably even from Berlin Philharmonic. Actually, it really isn't. But the music on this CD gives you a refreshing and lively feeling towards Bach's Violin Concertos. Kennedy added some of his own intepretations on the concertos which makes me music more lively. These elements match with the texture and sounds produced by modern musical instruments. I thought of buying a Bach's violin concertos played by ancient instruments, but I didn't feel disappointed neither in this purchase."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
