Review of Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

Introduction

I really like classical music, so when the chance to review a classical DVD video came along I took it. There`s a place for music DVDs, afterall there are videos and artist performances to watch and these work well as background `noise`.

Bach`s music is enjoyable, but here we`re presented with musicians playing the music - who are obviously enjoying themselves - in just what looks like one location (Castle Cöthen). Even if I knew who the musicians in the orchestra were I don`t think this DVD makes for enthralling viewing. The orchestra by the way, is the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, pretty much the leading baroque ensemble.

Of course my take on it might be different to a hardcore classical music fan. I`d love to see a `Baraka` style DVD to accompany the classical music, using esoteric images, giving me something to ponder on. Anyone remember the Landscape Channel?

Video

Presented with a 16x9 anamorphic transfer, which looks like it`s been taken directly from the original digital tape, the video is clean with no artefacting or pixellation. There`s a pretty good level of detail in close up with well balanced colours and blacks, but there seems to be edge enhancement too, trying to bring out more detail than the digital video has. Also, featuring just the one location in the castle for the musicians does tend to get a little bland.

Audio

The sound is crisp and detailed with a choice of 2 channel LPCM or 5.1 sound. Listening to the 5.1 sound definitely adds more spacial detail to the music over the LPCM track. While there`s a wide soundfield, don`t expect surprises like a violin or harpsichord coming in from the rear channels, all the action on the screen happens in the front area, so this is where the sound is mainly confined to.

Features

Presented in a Super Jewel Case, there are minimal sleeve notes which provide some useful background to the concertos and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. I thought there would be some information at the very least on other titles in the TDK range, but there`s nothing else here. On the disc itself there are the usual chapter selections and video clips of three pieces of music: Sarabande, Coffee Cantata and Back in Castle Cöthen. These clips weave some other video with the music and it`s a nice idea, but the latter piece, Back in Castle Cöthen is quite laughable with an animated Bach jumping around a garden. What`s that all about?

If you really want to dig into Bach some more, you could check out http://www.jsbach.org.

Conclusion

I like the music. There`s no question about it, I find it quite pleasant to leave running in the background without the need to look at the television at all. And here`s the rub. Why bother with classical DVD at all if all one does is listen to the audio? Some discs have 5.1 audio and this makes for interesting listening, but it`s not that much greater than 2 channel sound from a CD. In fact, classical CDs are far cheaper than their DVD counterparts and in most cases I`d say forego the DVD unless there`s something of interest, like the performance, that you feel you`ve got to have.

It`s good to see that a company like TDK is taking a foray into the classical music arena and I hope that future releases will be more interesting. For the Bach afficianado, this might be a good disc, but for those of us who like some classical music there`s little point in this particular DVD for the reasons I`ve already outlined.