I enjoyed these readings of Bach's six Brandenburgs when I first heard them a couple of years ago. Now the set is issued on two CDs where it must compete with The English Concert version on Archiv Produktion. If I had to choose between one or other performances on CD, then I would go for The English Concert one. The playing is more polished and Trevor Pinnock's own contribution in the Fifth Concerto is outstanding. The CDs of Hans-Martin Linde's performances lack some of the brightness of recorded sound which characterized the LPs. Indeed, from that point of view I would rather listen to the LPs though, of course, the CD format has other advantages over LP in terms of reduced background noise and so forth. In both formats I find the harpsichord placed a little too prominently for a realistic balance. Not that the Archiv balance is entirely satisfactory either and in the case of Concerto No. 1 the HMV results are to be preferred. Neither CD version is likely to cause much in the way of disappointment, unless you dislike the period instrument approach.'