Jürgen Jürgens & Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg
Jaap Schröder & Concerto Amsterdam
André Rieu & Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra
Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works
General Discussions

Rieu's father conducting cantata 206, in 1963

Bradley Lehman wrote (February 20, 2004):
Paul Dirmeikis wrote:
< Maybe Sigiswald Kuijken should wear a fancy and romantic white shirt as André Rieu, and play a couple of Vienna waltzes before and after the SMP performance ? That way, he might not have to go as far as Mexico to have his work recognized, recorded and released... >
I have the old Telefunken LP of cantata BWV 206, from 1963: different artwork from the ones shown at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV206.htm
André Rieu (senior: 1917-1992) conducting the Amsterdam Chamber Orch (with modern instruments) and the Monteverdi Choir (the one led by Jürgens, not Gardiner). Gustav Leonhardt is the harpsichordist! Herman Krebbers is the concertmaster.

Fans of hearing long bass notes in recitative: here's your direct evidence that Gustav Leonhardt has not taken an exclusive or absolutely restrictive approach in such matters. (Even after his pioneering 1954 recording of cantatas BWV 54 and BWV 170, with Alfred Deller, where under Leonhardt's direction everybody plays the bass notes short.) In the interests of ensemble unity, where the director and the band are firm on doing things the way they have decided it should go, sometimes a harpsichordist hired in just has to go with the flow and be happy to have the gig.

From Andre Rieu's official web site, some notes about the chronology of
his life:
http://212.72.56.86/fo/personal.jhtml
http://212.72.56.86/fo/personalMyLife.jhtml

Personally, I believe that anyone who gets people to love the music is doing a good job. And that's what Andre Rieu junior does, taking any stuffiness out of it. I saw one of his television specials a few months ago: spirited conducting, decent jokes, an enthusiastic audience. Clearly, everybody was having a good time in the occasion and that's what counts, isn't it? I have a Dutch friend who's nearly 80 and he speaks very enthusiastically of his countryman's work. If Rieu can make such a non-musician so overjoyed with the music, what problem is there with the way he goes about it? A Rieu broadcast a few years ago also got me to look more into Shostakovich's Jazz Suites, from the way he played the Second Waltz so liltingly and had the audience singing along. Such fun!

Nor should we forget the fun of Joshua Rifkin's early albums of Scott Joplin, and the one where he arranged Beatles tunes into concerti grossi. http://www.marxmusic.com/tributes.html

And this party record that includes the "Pink Panther" theme played on harpsichord, bass, bassoon, oboe, and English horn: http://www.buchhandlung-otto.de/regional/cd/components/barock-rocks.htm
That last track, "Brandenburgischer Konzertwalzer", is a 7-minute medley sailing Bach's melodies along the Danube. "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" really swings.

Thomas Braatz wrote (February 20, 2004):
Brad Lehman stated:
>>Fans of hearing long bass notes in recitative: here's your direct evidence that Gustav Leonhardt has not taken an exclusive or absolutely restrictive approach in such matters.<<
Perhaps there were too many ‘cooks in the kitchen’?!

BL: >>In the interests of ensemble unity, where the director and the band are firm on doing things the way they have decided it should go, sometimes a harpsichordist hired in just has to go with the flow and be happy to have the gig.<<
So there was a conflict between what the score indicated and what Leonhardt, based upon his misinterpretation of the historical records, wanted to do with Bach’s notation. The result was a compromise between two opposing views, a compromise which now serves to illuminate the confusion that a misreading of the score (seriously changing/abbreviating Bach’s original notation) has caused since the time when Leonhardt was just beginning to insist on the ‘correctness’ of his untenable approach.

BL: >>Clearly, everybody was having a good time in the occasion and that's what counts, isn't it?... [Rieu] had the audience singing along. Such fun!<<
How does this seriously connect with almost all of Bach’s musical output and how it should be performed under normal, ordinary circumstances?

BL: >>If Rieu can make such a non-musician so overjoyed with the music, what problem is there with the way he goes about it?<<
This does not give a conductor/harpsichordist who wants to be taken seriously the license ‘to ride roughshod’ over Bach’s original intentions, unless, of course, he/she happens to be a PDQ Bach or the equivalent.

Paul Dirmeikis wrote (February 20, 2004):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< Clearly, everybody was having a good time in the occasion and that's what counts, isn't it? >
IMO, that's not enough to be called an "artist". Just an "entertainer". I saw a TV investigation about André Rieu's musical enterprise. His main goal is only money, and how to make more money again. Music is completely secondary. I don't blame him for that. Some make money on war weapons. Is he a good violin player ? Frankly I don't care. I don't really know why his name popped out on my keyboard. I suppose I was just pissed off, thinking about Kuijken and La Petite Bande who have to go to Mexico to record Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232) and have it released without any kind of advertising, while a mercenary puppet like Rieu only has to snap his fingers to have his second-rate CDs in every CD store all over the world. I guess I felt some unfairness somewhere...

Jurgen Jurgens CD reissue disaster

Yoël L. Arbeitman wrote (December 18, 2010):
I don't find the following matter discussed on the website. If it is, sorry for any repeat.

Aryeh wrote (as I find by search of the website):
Aryeh Oron wrote (February 4, 2002):
[To Charlie Ervin McCarn] Thanks for the info regarding the recording of BWV 18 by Jürgens. Jürgens and his friends made some fine recordings of Bach Cantatas during the second half of the 1960's. Their recording of BWV 198 (Funeral Ode) is my favourite among the 13 recordings of this cantata. Alas, most of the recordings by this group are unavailable in CD form. You can see a list of them in the following page:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Jurgens.htm

I have not been aware of their recording of BWV 18. What are the other works on this LP?
------------------
Alas and alack, a reviewer on Amazon.co.uk
properly notes re the 2008 CD issue: Amazon.co.uk

whereas the music web's reviewer: MusicWeb
saw the problem but didn't solve the riddle. I just acquired this set as I have always loved Jürgen Jürgens and find this a very sad matter. On the Amazon.co.uk review also read the two comments by the same person.

Jürgen Jürgens Bach Recordings [was: The Bach Cantatas Website celebrates its 10th Anniversary]

Aryeh Oronwrote (January 4, 2011):
Aryeh Oron wrote:
<< The BCW is rated very high in Google and other search engines, and there are 40,000-50,000 links from other websites to the BCW (including, for example, about 2,500 links from Wikipedia). >>
Yoël L. Arbeitman wrote:
< BTW the Jürgen Jürgens CD reprint set, which I noted here the other day in re its inclusion by error of a Harnoncourt recording instead of JJ's own recording, says for texts to go to your website. Personally I abhor all CDs without texts but at least there your site for Bach for those who lack the old fashioned way. >
Following Yoel's message, I searched and found that according to a review of the 2-CD album on MusicWeb "Recording dates and venues not specified”.
I have revised and updated the Bach Recording page by Jürgen Jürgens and his friends on the BCW.
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Jurgens.htm
Almost all the missing info is now presented in this page.
The relevant cantata pages were also updated.

Jürgen Jürgens: Short Biography | Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg | Recordings of Vocal Works | General Discussions

Jaap Schröder: Short Biography | Recordings of Vocal Works | General Discussions

André Rieu: Short Biography | Recordings of Vocal Works | General Discussions