The Greatest Recordings EVER! Bach: Organ Works

Bach: Organ Works. Karl Richter (organ), DG (3 CDs)

[@mercedes932]

I’ve loved Richter’s Bach for a while now. He brings Romantic grandeur to these Baroque pieces.

[@joeld7001]

Karl Richter was a very great artist ! He make me love Bach's music .❤

[@JouniSomeroMusic]

Me too😊

[@annamcancarini6953]

Karl Richter, the magician of the organ and one of the finest musicians of the xx century! Of course, as a great K.Richter fan, I have these recordings: the Dorian and the Passacaglia played on the Silbermann organ in Freyberg are absolutely magnificent!

[@cosimagrundkotter906]

Magnificent series, Dave! Each video is like meeting an old (and almost forgotten) love again, or like going on a very promising date. Exciting!

[@MartinRichard-y6c]

Richter was one of the best. André Isoir and Michel Chapuis are my favorites too.

[@ewaldsteyn469]

Cannot agree more with your choice. I am NOT an organ person, but these magnificent recordings by Karl Richter are soooo good, I could not resist adding them to my collection. It still remains the only solo organ music in my collection. Talking of Bach and you discussing in this series music you hardly ever touch: here is one I can suggest, namely Bach guitar suites (ok, actually transcribed for guitar). Don't think I've ever heard you discussing music for classical guitar (apologies if I am wrong). Anyway, for me the Narciso Yepes Bach guitar suites are among the most magnificent recordings ever made of Bach music played on a solo instrument.

[@hape3862]

Only one organ CD? What about Liszt, Widor, Vierne, Franck??? You are missing out!

[@salinsclassicalorganinspir8415]

I really cherish Richter's Bach Organ works. I also love Piet Kee's Bach recordings, the sound of his chosen organs are amazing.

[@davidb.4374]

And this remastering is very good- the sonics are fabulous ! Great choice, once again.

[@bvdb5135]

I just bought the Kooiman SACD boxset version of Bach's organ works, completely played on Silbermann organs. Really curious how they compare with this version, will check it out, thanks for the advice!

[@Dumballa]

I really enjoyed this. Thank you.

[@deVriesOP125]

Good evening (for me) Dave! Karl Richter is one of the first classical musicians I’ve ever seen on KZbin. He might be one of the reason for my passion for this world. Thank you for this little moment of nostalgia haha! Now I’m commenting anyway, would you be willing to do a survey on Beethoven’s der Glorrereiche Augenblick? I heard it some time ago and it has a pretty cool backstory. I read that it was considered to be some kind of answer to the Eroica in the way of it celebrating the opening of the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon’s defeat. KZbin hasn’t got a lot of recordings so I can’t really sample it before buying a CD. I would love to hear some recommendations!

[@goonbelly5841]

My favorite Bach organist usually depends on the work or type of work being played. However, I do agree that this is an excellent collection and should be sought out by novices new to this repertoire.

[@MiguelSBR]

I actually didn't know Richter as Organist, only as conductor, mostly of that incredible Bach Choir from Munich. Gonna check this out! Thank you for this video, Dave! Take care!

[@Lohensteinio]

This Richter set is indeed a great one! I’ve enjoyed it for decades, but on the previous CD release, which is also on three discs but unfortunately lacks the tracks recorded in Freiberg.

[@bobleroe3859]

I have 2 recordings of Bach organ, one by Virgil Fox, the other by Helmut Walcha. I like them both, but what do I know? I'm a guitar player. 😃

[@erikdaumann8589]

O then you know a lot, because Walcha is by far the better choice than Richter, the latter playing very schoolmasterly. He was a good conductor though.

[@abzulooks6012]

I grew up with just the one Richter album which had the Toccata + Fugue in D minor (of course), the G minor Fantasia and Fugue, the D major Prelude and Fugue and Trio Sonata no 2, so that gives you a feel for how the works were distributed over an individual album. Of course, one of the first things I realised is that the Toccata and Fugue is great fun, but the other ones have much greater staying power. There are choices one can make with Bach organ works, most importantly how much you much around with registration. Purists will crunch all the way through a Prelude and Fugue on the one set of pipes, those of a more "Romantic" inclination will mix it up a bit and play around with sounds as the piece progresses. I think Richter really gets this right- he's not afraid to change registration to really highlight passages in the works and I think his choice of registration is really fine. I think you're right, I think this is a great set and I wonder how much it did- even more so than the other greats like Walcha and Alain- to get people into these works. As you point out, it really benefits from being a Greatest Hits rather than aiming for completeness.

[@tarakb7606]

What a great choice. 😃 Some of the best of Bach's organ music played by one of the all-time great organists. What more could you want? (Btw, one of the instruments is tuned a whole tone higher. Compare the two D minor Toccatas and Fugues. The Dorian sounds in E minor).

[@jensguldalrasmussen6446]

I totally share your enthusiasm for these recordings by Richter...it really opened my ears to Bach's organ world. I know you would probably deem the following "stupid nationalistic nonsense", but I can't help feeling a little bit of national pride by the fact that the organ, played in most of the works in this publication, is the organ of Jægersborg Church, built by Marcussen og søn in 1944. The organ firm of Marcussen & son were in their time among the best in Europe. Another organ-trouvaille by Richter, sometime earlier in his carriere is his complete set of Handel's organ concertos, opp. 4 and 7, originally on Decca, later on published by Teldec on cd. The Karl Richter Chamber Orchestra is hardly a HIP ensemble, but the words that spring to mind, when thinking of Richter's effortless effort at the keyboard of the organ are joyous and vibrant vitality. Grab it, if you happen upon it!

[@JouniSomeroMusic]

YES!!👏👏

[@Mooseman327]

Unfortunately, this disc is currently unavailable on CD. Only vinyl or streaming. Drat.

[@steve-4045]

I was able to buy it from Apple’s iTunes Store just now.

[@robertjamesstove]

What with Richter's Bach set and Helmut Walcha's (for the same label) now available and still sounding amazingly youthful for decades-old tapings, I am simply no longer in the market for comprehensive surveys of Bach's organ output. An outstanding single-disc recital will always delight me - I think of Eric Plutz's recent one, which is emphatically recommendable - but for multi-disc sets both unfussy and dignified, it will be Richter and Walcha for me each time.

[@jafguru1]

I also like E Power Biggs recordings of these.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Don't we all?

[@steve-4045]

I just bought this set and listened to the Passacaglia and Fugue. The tempo seems very slow by modern standards. It works really well toward the end of the Passacaglia, heightening the dramatic tension. I’ll grant that.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Very gracious of you...

[@steve-4045]

@@DavesClassicalGuide It’s easier to make a case for a slow tempo for the Passacaglia than for the off-to-the-races that we occasionally hear. It needs to dance, I think, but it is a slow dance. It is fun when the triplet section sounds like an Irish jig, even if you don’t think that is what Bach had in mind. As for Richter, I think it is his B-Minor Mass recording that I think of as definitive.

[@CluytensIsabella]

I have been hesitant to get into the great organ works. Outside of some pot boilers like Saint Saëns’s 3rd or the Bach toccata, I couldn’t really imagine the instrument to be able to convey emotions. Maybe I should try it from a different perspective. Bach is indeed THE composer where emotion is not the main draw. ‘Dry’ music can be beautiful in its ingenuity.

[@sebastianschweigert7117]

@@CluytensIsabella it's ridiculous to say bach is not emotional, and especially for his organ works. I guess it's different when you listen on a CD vs in person where the organ basically shakes your whole body. But I really do think this idea that "bach is not emotional" is a common misconception which is just absurd on its face.

[@CluytensIsabella]

@@sebastianschweigert7117 Maybe my choice of words was not the best, English is not my first language 😅. What I meant is that the emotion comes from the strict devotion to form. I agree that Bachs music is wonderful and emotional!

[@carlosacarter]

Dave, what bookshelves do you use?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They are custom built.