Donald Satz wrote:

>I recently acquired another version of Bach's Art of the Fugue performed
>by the group "Phantasm" on the Simax label.

Don shares, I know, my love of Art of Fugue and I was interested to read
his review of the Phantasm recording.  I know the Keller well and have
enjoyed it enormously.  But recently I purchased the Hysperion XX version
on Auvidis which I find nothing short of superb.  Use here is made of old
instruments and this gives a feeling of authenticity to this arrangement.
Of course, we all know that Art of Fugue was originally for keyboard (and
for that I prefer - you guessed it - Leonhardt's majestic reading), but I
feel that it is a work of such extraordinary depth and breadth that any
version helps add new insight to what I believe is one of the greatest
musical masterpieces ever.  Even, I may add, in another version Don
mentioned some time ago - the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields with
Marriner - which I bought following his mention of it.  Not the best,
by a long chalk, but somehow one to which I return with some regularity.
The clean lines make the progress of the counterpoint very accessible.

Jonathan