The finest Bach players

[cliftwood]

So many great pianists and harpsichordists, both past and present.

How would you rank the top 10 keyboard artists of Bach's works??

You folks go first, please.

[Holden]

So many great pianists and harpsichordists, both past and present.

How would you rank the top 10 keyboard artists of Bach's works??

You folks go first, please.

In no particular order:

Sergey Schepkin
Evgeni Koroliov
Lise de la Sallle
Glenn Gould
Samuil Feinberg
Sviatoslav Richter
Wilhelm Kempff
Edwin Fischer
Solomon
Wilhelm Backhaus

That's right, no Angela Hewitt or Rosalind Tureck. If you extend the list to Harpsichord then I'd have to add Landowska, Kirkpatrick and Leonhardt to the list

[prémont]

If you extend the list to Harpsichord ....

[Bulldog]

Not easy to limit it to 10, but here it goes:

Rosalyn Tureck
Glenn Gould
Jill Crossland
Craig Sheppard
Kenneth Gilbert
Gustav Leonhardt
Alan Curtis
Glen Wilson
David Cates
Robert Hill
Christophe Rousset
Pierre Hantai

I wasn't willing to go below 12, sorry.  For honorable mention - van Asperen, Fellner, Ross, Aldwell, Hill and more.

[cliftwood]

My choices:

Schepkin
Koroliov
Schiff
Sheppard
Feltsman
Perahia
Hewitt
Gould
Anderszewski
Richter

My , that was very difficult!

[Bulldog]

My choices:

Schepkin
Koroliov
Schiff
Sheppard
Feltsman
Perahia
Hewitt
Gould
Anderszewski
Richter

My , that was very difficult!

Even harder if you include harpsichordists.

[DarkAngel]

Gould
Hantai
Rousset
Feinberg
Schiff

Bulldog do you forgive Rousset for his new "wet" style of performance 

[Bulldog]

Gould
Hantai
Rousset
Feinberg
Schiff

Bulldog do you forgive Rousset for his new "wet" style of performance 

It's Rousset/Decca all the way.

[Spotswood]

Gustav Leohnardt has been mentioned. When he gets togther with Frans Bruggen, Aymer Bylsma and Elly Ameling, anything is possible. Their recording of excerpts from the Anna Magdelena Bach Notebook is one of my favorites of all time, of anything.

Glenn Gould also did the best Goldberg's I have heard --- so much so that I'm willing to forgive the Jarrett-like humming.

[Cristofori]

What... no organists allowed?

Bach was only the greatest composer for the organ there ever was.

[Cristofori]

That's right, no Angela Hewitt or Rosalind Tureck. If you extend the list to Harpsichord then I'd have to add Landowska, Kirkpatrick and Leonhardt to the list

I'm not as surprised that Angela Hewitt or Rosalind Tureck didn't make the cut here, as I am at the exclusion of Trevor Pinnock for the Harpsichord.

His playing of the Bach works is generally outstanding, with crisp clear sound, especially on the Brandenburg's from his now classic recordings on Archiv. I've yet to hear a better performance of the solo bit on Concerto No. 5!

[Holden]

I'm not as surprised that Angela Hewitt or Rosalind Tureck didn't make the cut here, as I am at the exclusion of Trevor Pinnock for the Harpsichord.

His playing of the Bach works is generally outstanding, with crisp clear sound, especially on the Brandenburg's from his now classic recordings on Archiv. I've yet to hear a better performance of the solo bit on Concerto No. 5!

The reason for his non inclusion is that I haven't really heard him play Bach.

[71 dB]

It takes lots of temporal/financial resources to explore Bach's keyboard works played by one artist (Wolfgang Rübsam in my case).

[Chaszz]

It takes lots of temporal/financial resources to explore Bach's keyboard works played by one artist (Wolfgang Rübsam in my case).

Temporal resources. I like that term. Many wealthy individuals would have given a lot of their financial resources for a few more temporal ones. That is really the essence of life, isn't it? A friend of mine used to have a motto hanging on his wall, "There is nothing more valuable than time."

[Rod Corkin]

What... no organists allowed?

Bach was only the greatest composer for the organ there ever was.

Well that is the commonly held perception today, however the contemporary Hamburg music writer/composer Johann Mattheson described Handel as the greatest organist of his time (despite almost killing Handel in a duel), but adding that only Johann Sebastian Bach was in the same league, so to speak.

[val]

PIANO

Friedrich Gulda  (WTC)
Dinu Lipatti (First Partita)
Glenn Gould (Toccatas, Inventions, Goldberg Variations)

Harpsichord

Gustav Leonhardt  (WTC, Partitas, English Suites)

Ton Koopman (French Suites)

Pierre Hantai  (Goldberg Variations)

Andreas Steier  (4th Partita, Italian Concert)

[helios]

Gould