Editorial Reviews

A compilation of this kind is at its best when it passes three basic tests. It shouldn't scrawl on the Mona Lisa. It should offer skillful, exciting performances, not stuff that tanked when first released. And ideally, it should make musical sense as a whole. The #1 Bach Album easily passes the first two tests, but seems only dimly aware of the third. All the music on the album is played straight; many works are represented in single-movement excerpts, but there's even a complete "Italian Concerto" performed by the redoubtable Alfred Brendel. The performances included are perennials from the Universal-family catalog, with representation of both traditional and "historically informed" performance approaches. Performers include Trevor Pinnock, András Schiff, Narciso Yepes, and Karl Richter with his Munich Bach Orchestra. The name of German organist Helmut Walcha is misspelled as "Wacha" -- a sure sign of cursory attention. Most of the expected Bach greatest hits are indeed on hand, but they're in no particular order. The toccata from the "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" and the prelude from the "Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532" are followed not by their own fugues, but by the "Little Fugue in G minor, BWV 578." Sometimes successive works create a tritone clash or other sharp readjustment as the listener moves from one work to another. Nor is it clear why there are two discs, beyond the fact that by inserting both, buyers could increase Bach density in their CD changers. Nothing's objectionable about this release, but it leaves the impression that someone got on e-mail and ordered 150 minutes of Bach to be shipped out to the plant. Getting Bach into Wal-Mart is a good idea, but once listeners are hooked they could want more to chew on. James Manheim, All Music Guide

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