Search - Dmitri Mitropoulis, Melichar, Kleiber :: Orchestral Transcriptions (J.S. Bach)

If I could give it six stars, I would

Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 10/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"O, divine plenitude! In two months, no less than four CD issues have appeared of Bach in those Brontosaurian orchestral manifestations that the "period performance" boys tell us we're not supposed to like. Let's see, there's Slatkin with the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Sony, Stokowski and the All American Youth Symphony on Cala, and now - a great sampling, a feast, spread over two fully recorded CDs from Biddulph of Bach transcriptions from many and sundry hands as played in the good old days before World War II, after which the triumph of ideology put an end to good humor in the West and turned musicians into pedantic killjoys. Could anything be grander than Schoenberg's arrangement of the "Saint Anne" Fugue in E-Flat Major? Guess what? Frederick Stock's is grand beyond Schoenberg's, and Biddulph lets us hear Stock himself lead it with the Chicago Symphony, recorded in 1944. Not all dinosaurs reach the stature of the mighty Bronto: A beast of the smaller variety trots by on CD 1 in the form of Alois Melichar's arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor, as unlike Stoki's many-times-recorded arrangement of the same as possible. (No doubt this is the first and last time that any of us will ever hear of the Melicharosaurus.) Sometime around 1942, Dmitri Mitropoulos mocked up a gargantuan version of the Fantasia and Fugue in G-Minor, which stalks past while grazing on the tree-tops. As the paleontologist says in "The Beast from twenty-Thousand Fathoms" just before the titular monster devours the diving-bell, scientist and all: "It's a true prehistoric survival... The clavical suspension must be - cantilevric! But the most amazing thing about it is - " CD 2 gives us Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt's orchestration of the "Italian Concerto" (species: Clavicembalosaurus orchestratum), Kleiber's performance of Schoenberg's "Saint Anne," and Henry Woods' version of the venerable Toccatacumfugosaur in D-Minor, recorded respectively in 1936, 1930, and 1935. Plus (as they say in advertisements) lots more! There's more glorious roaring and bellowing on this set than at a late-Jurassic Shrinosaur convention. Buy it. Love it. Excuse me now while I floss the roast Dimetrodon out of my incisors."

Fantastic!

Paul Bunkerr | New London, CT USA | 06/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, okay. I realize you purists will object to these thrilling transcriptions of Bach's most memorable and greatest works. But please realize that Bach would have relished these brilliant, if loud, interpretations. Plus, audiences LOVE hearing these works in this form. That said, this is a very important and enjoyable CD set for those who can appreciate what other great artists had to say about the music of the greatest composer who ever lived.



Of special note is the Henry Wood version of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. I cannot play it for friends and family without them howling with laughter at the first few minutes of the introduction. It is so "over the top" and brilliant and enjoyable at the same time! Do not pass this by if you enjoy Bach transcriptions. It is quite wonderful and very, very rare.

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