This is no ordinary greatest hits disc of Bach’s organ music. The organ used here is a fascinatingly sweet-toned baroque instrument by Michele Ramasco of 1749 (added to by Bruna in 1802correct and in remarkable condition) in the Church of San Nicolao, near Montecassinowhere a great organ was destroyed in the war. The music is taken from two 18th-century collections of Bach’s music that circulated in Italy after his death, with rarities such as organ versions of one of the 48 preludes, fugues arranged by Padre Martini of Bologna and an unusual version of the Chromatic Fantasy. To end, Luca Guglielmi restores the rich A minor keyboard Fantasia and its chromatic Fugue BWV 904 to the organ, where it sounds ringingly confident, if a little distant.
