Masaaki Suzuki plays Bach Organ Works, Vol. 6 ¿ leipziger choräle (I) ¿ in Bloomington, MN

The volumes in
Masaaki Suzuki
's ongoing series of
Bach
organ recordings are rapidly approaching the reference-recording status of his magisterial
cantata cycle. Each one has well-chosen music and something distinctive in the recording. This time, it is the organ. Most of
Suzuki
's music-making has been done in Japan, but this time, he plays an organ of the Martinikerk in the Dutch city of Groningen, built in the late 17th century by
Arp Schnitger
. It is wonderfully idiomatic, with both power in the big pieces and the delicacy to capture the shimmering textures in
Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659
.
, as is his wont, brings maximum transparency to these dense contrapuntal writing in some of these chorale preludes, like
Komm, heiliger Geist, BWV 652
. Better still is
's program. These so-called Leipziger Choräle were written around 1739, compiling and, in many cases, revising pieces
had written earlier in Weimar. They provide a fascinating insight into
's thinking about his material, which, in the end, did not fundamentally change but did favor delving more deeply into particular ideas as his career developed. A major highlight here is
BIS
' engineering. This label,
's longtime home, is known for its impressive sonics, but the staff outdoes itself here, with a full-spectrum representation of
's music-making, and in a venue they don't commonly frequent, at that. This is a major
organ recording that belongs in any collection of the composer's music. ~ James Manheim