By 1962, Seymour Solomon’s iconoclastic independent label Vanguard Classics was a leading influence in the increasing popularity of Baroque music. In Vienna, Solomon produced some of the most important original instrument recordings of the LP era – so it may surprise some that one of his own all-time favorite recordings, released in his hand-picked “Amadeus” CD series, was a modern-instrument realization of Bach’s “The Musical Offering”. Musicologist-performers Fritz Neumeier and Wilfried Böttcher prepared an edition of the work for recording, collaborating with a hand-picked group of soloists from Vienna’s top orchestras in a compelling recording of Bach’s late hybrid multi-movement masterpiece – a central trio sonata “wrapped” in creative contrapuntal gems, culminating with one of the crowning glories of Bach’s oeuvre, the concluding six-voice Ricercar.
This recording is being digitally issued with the original liner notes and has been newly remastered for streaming and download by Gene Gaudette and Urlicht AudioVisual.
