Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concertos 1-6. Václav Luks conducts Collegium 1704 in 2021, using historical instruments, at the Hall of Mirrors at Köthen Castle. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
The YouTube clip below is the entire concert as shown on arte TV. I watched this YouTube video on my 65” OLED display (sound via a nice AVR) in my home theater. The YouTube version is not competitive with my 2008 Blu-ray Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 by the Orchestra Mozart under Abbado. The YouTube streamed sound is harsh, the image looks more like a DVD than 1080i, the video content is hyperactive, and, of course, it’s really hard to find your favorite concerto from the single YouTube file that you stream.
I would assume that sound and picture will be a lot better on the Accentus Blu-ray disc and that Accentus will have a separate chapter for each concerto. But I’m not optimistic about Ute Feudel’s video content no matter how good the technical specs of the Blu-ray disc might be. Finally, the Abbado video file has a warm feel with deep colors at a live performance in an old theater. The Collegium 1704 venue is spectacular, but it comes across cold as a setting for some of Bach’s most colorful music. And I also suspect that sound reverberations in the Hall of Mirrors created difficulties for the poor sound engineers.
Lindsay Kemp wrote some 58 column lines about this recording in the August 2022 Gramophone at page 32. He devoted 11 lines to the performance (“spic and span with convivial smiles”). The other 47 lines had to do with the history of the venue, technical aspects of the recording, the skimpiness of the keepcase booklet, and a competing recording. Maybe the most damning review I can remember.
We don’t try to keep up with prices on this website. But if the 2008 Abbado disc is available at a discount compared to subject title, then the wise choice should be obvious.
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