Having previously blogged about Europadisc's 'Das Alte Werk' special offer, the label has now also turned up on offer at MDT until the 28th of October. They're selling single CDs for £5.50 & doubles for £6.50 - within the UK free postage applies to orders over £50.
There really are some great recordings turning up in this series. MDT aren't offering the entire selection. From what they have, I already mentioned two CDs by Il Giardino Armonico, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos & a selection of excellent Christmas Concertos. Nikolaus Harnoncourt's brilliant recordings of Bach's B Minor Mass & Haydn's Missa in Angustiis ('Nelson' Mass) are also a snip.
I've also been really enjoying Herbert Tachezi's Kunst der Fuge performed on the organ and the intriguing 1963 recording by Jurgen Jurgens & Andre Rieu of the two secular cantatas BWV 206 & 208 has turned out to be well worth listening to. It's 'old school' Bach to a certain extent, on modern instruments with pretty large-sounding choral forces (the Monteverdi Chor, Hamburg), but it's performed with a bit of dash and style and the soloists all sound pretty good. It doesn't have the leaden-footed quality I sometimes hear in earlier 'traditional' interpretations - instrumentalists and choir do a particularly good job with 'Lebe, Sonne dieser Erden' from the Hunting Cantata (BWV 208) - the need to have a good driving rhythm along with force and clarity in the vocal lines makes this short section a pretty good litmus test for the work as a whole - it's carried off with a fresh sound and a bit of brio. Sadly this CD isn't (yet?) included in the samples available from the Das Alte Werk site.
In fact, that website is a little frustrating, as it seems to be rather slow to catch up with their own release schedule, as well as a little lacking in more general information. Having a glance at MDT's list of new releases for October, there seems to be a new batch due then - including two more fantastic Bach double CDs from Harnoncourt, his Orchestral Suites & first recording of the Christmas Oratorio (included on our Xmas website; & I blogged about his recent return to the piece last year) - where the official site falls silent. They're not on MDT's offer, unfortunately, but they are brilliant value nonetheless. If you search on 'Teldec' in the label field, you'll get a list of 10 releases, which also include more cantatas (sacred this time) from the Monteverdi Chor Hamburg & Jurgen Jurgens, featuring amongst others Kurt Equiluz & Max van Egmond.
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