DVDs

21st Century Bach:

The complete organ works of J S Bach Vol 1
John Scott Whiteley
SIGNUM SIGDVD003 162’

This is a reissue of the series the BBC broadcast in 2007. While I have found much to enjoy in John Scott Whiteley’s playing, and the instru­ments chosen are all admirable, I find the visuals often distracting and tricksy. Moreover it is released in its original format which means that each piece starts and ends with momentous footsteps approaching the organ and frequent trick shots during the playing. Consequently there is no sense of a concert or of a con­structed programme.

Liner notes are excellent and the addition of an interview with Professor Christoph Wolff is val­uable, but I just wish the basic need to experience the music was more sym­path­et­ic­ally handled.

Brian Hick