MichaelNanasakov

Brandenburg concertos complete
　While focusing on the six Brandenburg Concertos, Bach's milestone concertos, this CD also includes three organ concertos that Bach arranged from concertos by his senior Italian musicians, and two harpsichord concertos that Bach himself arranged from his own older works. The masterpieces are all included as arrangements for solo piano.

　Stradal's arrangements are characterized by a large number of close polyphonic progressions to pick up as much of the original as possible, as well as by excessive left-hand enhancements: arpeggios over two octaves, almost all of the bass passages are in octaves, and there are many passages that devolve directly into fast 16th-note runs. The performance itself at the proper speed is not comfortable. It is odd that the performance itself at the proper speed is so disconcerting, but this is what happens when you are faithful to the score, and whether the score is kind to the performer is another matter.