Aria Archive

BACH: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 – Bassoon Consort Frankfurt – MDG

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 10, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

BACH: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 – Bassoon Consort Frankfurt – Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm multichannel SACD MDG 903 1914-6, 76:51 (10-30-15) (also 2+2+2) [Distr. by eOne] *****:  A most unusual instrumental arrangement of Bach’s Goldbergs. Since it was first written, Bach’s music has been rewritten. First it was by Bach himself in numerable re-uses, elaborations and updatings. Then followed an endless string of musicians and composers fascinated by how brilliantly it was constructed to hold the listener’s attention and the sheer amount of it he wrote. So we have wound up with such things as Art of Fugue on saxophones and the current craze, the Goldberg Variations for string trio or even string orchestra. And many, many others besides. All of it fanciful, of course, and often highly entertaining. For something that’s all of that, but also actually more authentic than anything that could be imagined, comes a definitive updating by eight bassoonists and one contrabassoon of the Goldberg Variations from Detmold’s audiophile label, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG) and in hi-res surround yet. The bassoonists en masse call themselves Bassoon Consort Frankfurt – their leader and founder is Henrik Rabien, who made the arrangement and plays first bassoon, and […]