To mark the 250th anniversary of Bach’s demise, the Wigmore Hall treated us to a concert entirely comprising his music:
- Johann Sebastian Bach – Contrapuncti Nos 1-5 from The Art of Fugue BWV 1080
- Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit BWV 106
- Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata: Lass, furston, lass noch einen Strahl “Trauerode” BWV 198
- Johann Sebastian Bach – Contrapunctus No 18 from The Art of Fugue
I don’t think the Purcell Quartet ever recorded The Art of Fugue. It does sound great in the string quartet format – here’s the Emerson Quartet’s recording:
The Purcell Quartet did record Bach trio sonatas around that time – the recording sounds great to my ears. I’ll be listening to all of these later – here’s a sample:
I cannot find Fretwork recordings of the pieces we heard that night, but this Netherlands Bach Society recording of “Trauerode” is rather lovely – albeit a larger orchestra than we heard at The Wig:
Here’s a recording of Nancy Argenta singing an aria from a different Bach cantata. It’s a rather yummy sound:
This concert will have been just the ticket for us after a busy week. No doubt one or both of us nodded off during some stage of the proceedings…in a good way.