Review of Bach: Musical Offering, A

Introduction

First off, I don`t know anything about Classical music (but I know what I like). My only contact with the stuff is the occasional concert of Popular Classics and whatever seeps into my consciousness through TV and movies. If I had to express a preference it would be for pieces in the Baroque style like Vivaldi and Bach. This is convenient, because the good folks at Reviewer have sent me a copy of "Bach at the Old Town Hall in Leipzig".

The DVD is a straight presentation of a concert in Leipzig (where Bach spent the latter part of his life) which featured his Musikalisches Opfer (Musical Offerings).

There is no point in me being a fraud and trying to talk authoritatively about Bach or his works. If you want to know more, a good starting point would be http://www.jsbach.org/biography.html (which is where I`d be ripping it off from anyway). So, off you go. Come back when you are ready to read more about the DVD.

Video

Video is presented as 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen and from a technical perspective is absolutely lovely. The image is clear and detailed (you can count every hair on the cellist`s head) and colours are perfectly natural.

However, it is just not very interesting to look at. The video consists of 1 hour of watching 4 old (and not overly attractive) men play their instruments with a pained seriousness. This isn`t a criticism - what you get is a faithful recreation of the concert experience - but don`t expect a visual treat.

Audio

The audio is of an equally high standard. You get the choice of PCM, DD 5.0 or DTS 5.0 and all are excellent. The audio is presented with a clarity, crispness and ambience that transports you directly to the
Old Town Hall in Leipzig. All 3 soundtracks are excellent with the DTS being the most realistic. However, having said that the DTS is the most realistic, I preferred the DD 5.0.

The reason for this is that Classical music, if your ear isn`t accustomed to it, can sometimes sound a bit … shrill. Violins, heard live, are sharper than you expect if you are more familiar with the sound from TV or radio. Harpsichords are harsher with an aggressive attack. This comes across very clearly on the DTS track but the sound is just that little bit softer - the edges smoothed off a bit - on the DD 5.0 and thus I tended to favour the DD version.

To an untrained ear, the performances were good (although probably not great) and there was little to fault. The highlight for me was the harpsichord solo on the first track where Robert Kohnen gives a bravura performance.

Features

The only extra is a 10 minute documentary that gives some insight into how organs are made and at the same time covers some of J.S. Bach`s family history. It is actually fairly dull and unlikely to be watched more than once.

Conclusion

Being a bit of a philistine, it is difficult for me to judge this DVD. From a technical point of view it is excellent. Musically, it sounded good to me - I certainly enjoyed it. It isn`t easily listening, though. It has some challenging passages and may well try the patience of casual listeners. Also, it is visually uninteresting (no Art of Landscape pretty pictures here - just old guys playing their instruments).

Perfect for Bach fans but everyone else should exercise caution.