LIFE AND WORKS - JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Narrated and written by the erudite musical scholar Jeremy Siepmann, this four-CD set is full of the color, beauty, and the awesome genius of Bach's compositions while giving a fuller picture of him as a man. The richness of actor John Shrapnel's voice--best known for his role as Gaius in Gladiator --is perfect in conveying the many incarnations of a composer who was valued for the most part as an organist during his lifetime but who also managed to fit in schoolteaching, directing choirs, and fathering 20 children. As little of Bach's correspondence survives today, we inevitably hear more narrator than actor, but this is still the most rounded portrait yet of "the greatest composer ever" and a welcome addition to Siepmann's expanding Life and Works series. H.M.J. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]