Stairway To Bach: Rock Classics With A Hint Of Bach

It should go without saying that this program isn't about scholarship, but neither is it about silliness or casual “Classical Lite” entertainment.

My best advice is for you is to meet him halfway. Not to think about it too much, and just to let this happening happen.

Today's popular music, which is generally inferior to pop/rock music from the previous century, would be much improved if its musicians had learned a little Bach when they first started taking piano lessons. Mikkelsen points the way.

All of the arrangements embody Mikkelsen’s ingenious synthesis of Bach and 60s-70s symphonic rock. Indeed, the lines between the two genres often blur, if not disappear.

Part of this is due to the brilliance of Mikkelsen’s arrangements. But it is also the product of the respect, elegance, and immaculate playing he invests upon all of the source material. Mikkelsen, without apology, suggests that the rock songs embody a beauty and eloquence that are not dwarfed by J.S. Bach’s music.

Of course, Bach had his playful side, too. And Mikkelsen has a grand time with Freddie Mercury and Queen’s more than over-the-top “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Sneaking a bit of Bach’s Prelude in E-flat, BWV 552 into the mix. All told, a beautiful, joyous recital, reproduced in gorgeous sound.

Recommended!

It takes a real artist to pay homage to rock music in this way, to accord it dignity, and inform it with interest aplenty.

Just not making this sound like fairground organ arrangements is an achievement in itself, and Mikelsen far, far transcends that.

The booklet is maximally informative and, as a rather nice touch, includes scans of original rock album covers.

The recording is demonstration standard. A clear winner.

It's a spectacular task Mikkelsen embarks on when he returns rock to Bach's main instrument, the classical organ.

What happens then? Something wonderful, beautiful, almost divine, is the short answer. You have to know both Bach and the great rock groups to truly appreciate how respectfully Mikkelsen approaches the matter.

He never falls into one ditch or the other; the balance between the classical and the rhythmic is fine. Yet it's as if he points out the elements in the old music that made the rock folks adopt Bach back in 1967-75, from which the songs are drawn.