João Carlos Martins / Bach
Vol. 6
Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook
Little Preludes
Italian Concerto
Labor Records is proud to announce the digital release of The Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook, Twelve Little Preludes, Six Little Preludes, Italian Concerto, the sixth installment of The Complete Keyboard Works of J.S. Bach, a collection comprising 15 volumes/19 CDs. This monumental edition features the celebrated Brazilian pianist João Carlos Martins, a legend among Bachophiles.
The new CD features the Italian Concerto, another prime showcase for Mr. Martins’s impressive technique charmingly packaged in this set with some of Bach’s most intimate works: 20 little pieces from the “Anna Magdalena Notebook” and 18 Little Preludes.
Martins does not hesitate to give the music a romantic tinge when such treatment seems appropriate, and occasionally he launches and all-out display of pure virtuosity, which can be dazzling.
REVIEWS
Martins puts considerable muscle into some items of the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook. But there is plenty of compensation in the from of elegantly molded phrases.
Some of the most disarming examples of his artistery – and imagination – occur in what may be the least likely items: The Little Preludes. Many a piano student may think of these miniatures as mere busy-work, but not Martins. From the gorgeous, misty colors he achieves in the first of the Twelve Little Preludes, to the startling rubato he works into the final measures of the first of the Six Little Preludes, the pianist is in his element. And what he does may be a little crazy, but who cares–it’s terrifically entertaining.
“Entertaining” may not be an adjective some people associate with Bach, but if his music ever sounds stuffy and mathematical, that’s invariably the musician’s fault–not the composer’s. In compelling fashion, João Carlos Martins reveals the spontaneity and joy behind each contrapuntal flourish–the structural brilliance of each piece.
– National Public Radio
His dynamic prowess is frequently breathtaking.
– The New York Times
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