There is more to Dieterich Buxtehude than meets the ear; so often pigeonholed into the world of organ music, the man composed much more than that, and with the same degree of flair, fluency, and creativity that he brought to everything else. Of course, we know Bach hopped it some 200 miles to hear him play, so there must have been something to the stories of his invincible prowess at the keyboard. But it is nice to have L’estravagante present us with the composer’s seven Op. 1 sonatas.
These pieces feature remarkable technical complexities, furious virtuosity, an unending reservoir of thoughtful melodic turns, and very warm, burnished scoring. A mixture of French and German styles permeate this music while showing us at the same time the extent of the composer’s rather somber Protestant roots.
There is really not much more to say about it aside from the fact that these are excellent readings in Art’s normally spectacular surround sound, making good use of all five channels. I can’t compete with the informative and erudite notes here; this is a must-have baroque issue in hi-res surround.
— Steven Ritter
