Before the digital era, complete Bach cycles—such as the cantatas or the keyboard works—were prestige projects for major labels. Sets like Glenn Gould’s 1955 Goldberg Variations or Karl Richter’s Bach editions were culturally revered but financially prohibitive for average listeners. By the 1990s, Naxos founder Klaus Heymann identified a gap: digital recording technology had lowered production costs, and a growing global market of students and amateur musicians craved comprehensive, affordable libraries. Bach’s structurally rigorous, non-orchestra-dependent works (e.g., solo violin partitas, cello suites, keyboard inventions) were ideal for this model.
Democratizing the Master: The Naxos Bach Recording Project and Its Impact on Classical Music Consumption naxos bach
Notably, Rilling’s complete cantatas were reissued from Hänssler to Naxos at half the price, making the same performances accessible to a wider audience. Before the digital era, complete Bach cycles—such as