Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier

[SonicMan46]

I have three recordings of Bach's music by Koroliov and all are excellent which leads me to think that he must be one of the top exponents of JSB keyboard works if not the absolute #1. If you haven't already, ................

Holden - a few pages or so back in this thread, you brought up the Woodward recordings of both books of the WTC - if you own and have heard these discs, any opinions?  Currently I own the complete set w/ Jill Crossland (and have plenty of 'harpsichord' sets now), so still looking for another one on piano - so many options?  Not a 'cheap' set but available at MDT for $40+ - thanks for any comments - Dave   

[Clever Hans]

In the US, Tacet can be bought through

http://www.spinningdogrecords.com/tacetsound.html

Koroliov's WTC is tremendous.
He first performed it at 17, so his interpretations are mature, to say the least.

[Scarpia]

In the US, Tacet can be bought through

http://www.spinningdogrecords.com/tacetsound.html

Koroliov's WTC is tremendous.
He first performed it at 17, so his interpretations are mature, to say the least.

On that site, it would cost $80 to get books 1 and 2.  Too rich for my blood, and considerably more than it would cost to import it from one of the usual UK web sites.  I can't imagine there are enough rubes in the world to keep a site like this "spinningdogrecords" in business.

[mc ukrneal]

On that site, it would cost $80 to get books 1 and 2.  Too rich for my blood, and considerably more than it would cost to import it from one of the usual UK web sites.  I can't imagine there are enough rubes in the world to keep a site like this "spinningdogrecords" in business.

Wow - $80! Just as a comparison, you can find the Richter for $20-25 (maybe others for even less).

[Scarpia]

Wow - $80! Just as a comparison, you can find the Richter for $20-25 (maybe others for even less).

Quite so, much more expensive than recordings by the most renown pianists such as Ashkenazy, Pollini, Richter, Schiff, Hewitt, etc.  Not so say that music is a commodity that should be sold based on cents per minute, but a priori I don't know how good these recordings are.  Why should I pay four times as much to hear these recordings as some other recordings that might be equally good.   

Clearly they can charge anything they want, but they've priced themselves out of my consideration, and I'm a lunatic who owns more than half a dozen recordings of the WTC.  Who is their customer, I'd like to know?  I'll keep an eye on the clearance houses, waiting for the moment they go bankrupt and their recordings are remaindered for a dollar a disc.   

[Clever Hans]

Quite so, much more expensive than recordings by the most renown pianists such as Ashkenazy, Pollini, Richter, Schiff, Hewitt, etc.  Not so say that music is a commodity that should be sold based on cents per minute, but a priori I don't know how good these recordings are.  Why should I pay four times as much to hear these recordings as some other recordings that might be equally good.   

Clearly they can charge anything they want, but they've priced themselves out of my consideration, and I'm a lunatic who owns more than half a dozen recordings of the WTC.  Who is their customer, I'd like to know?  I'll keep an eye on the clearance houses, waiting for the moment they go bankrupt and their recordings are remaindered for a dollar a disc.   

Because Pollini, Schiff, and Hewitt (both) are not equally good. Hewitt is genteel in comparison, which I suppose is why so many people like her, and don't get me started on Schiff.
Pollini is interesting, but I don't think on the same level.   
Ashkenazy I don't know.

If you want a mature, profound but tasteful performance get the Koroliov.

[Holden]

Holden - a few pages or so back in this thread, you brought up the Woodward recordings of both books of the WTC - if you own and have heard these discs, any opinions?  Currently I own the complete set w/ Jill Crossland (and have plenty of 'harpsichord' sets now), so still looking for another one on piano - so many options?  Not a 'cheap' set but available at MDT for $40+ - thanks for any comments - Dave   

I've only heard snippets/samples but enough to make me very intrigued. It's rated very highly by many posters across a range of forums.

[mc ukrneal]

There's nothing "dodgy" about the Tacet label.  It's just a small German company, and we're all aware that many outstanding recordings come from labels that aren't big-time.

One can buy both Books directly from Tacet at less than exorbitant prices.

The cheapest I have found so far is mdt (at approx $65, including shipping). Tacet is 30EUR (w/o VAT) per part! Then, it looks like they add in 10.75EUR for shipping to the US! This doesn't seem to be a good option for US buyers. JPC is even worse (EUR35). And to think I limit myself to a maximum disc price of $15 or so (and I can think of only about 4-5 discs where I spent as much as that in recent years)!!

I am intrigued too though, as it sounds to my taste. The First prelude had a bit of slight tempo slowdowns periodically, but I didn't really hear that elsewhere, so presumably this it limited in scope? JPC has some samples for those who want to hear more scope of the work (in addition to a few longer ones provided earlier in this thread - thanks for that).  Anyway, perhaps a good sale will come along at some point.

[Scarpia]

Because Pollini, Schiff, and Hewitt (both) are not equally good. Hewitt is genteel in comparison, which I suppose is why so many people like her, and don't get me started on Schiff.
Pollini is interesting, but I don't think on the same level.   
Ashkenazy I don't know.

If you want a mature, profound but tasteful performance get the Koroliov.

I'm to plunk down $80 to find out if I like it?  Sorry, there are too many other recordings of the WTC that I've never heard.  I can try out 3 of them for the price of this one.  If this recording is as good as you say, well that's just a shame.  I suspect it's mediocre.  People who bought it need to invent a narrative for why they let themselves be taken advantage of.

[DavidRoss]

I'm to plunk down $80 to find out if I like it?  Sorry, there are too many other recordings of the WTC that I've never heard.  I can try out 3 of them for the price of this one.  If this recording is as good as you say, well that's just a shame.  I suspect it's mediocre.  People who bought it need to invent a narrative for why they let themselves be taken advantage of.

FWIW, both books for $60 + shipping (~$3 to USA) from MDT.  I've not heard these discs, so don't know if they're to my taste, or sufficiently different & better than the sets I already have to be worthwhile--for me.  Again, FWIW, the Hurwitzer loves Koroliov's WTC.  (I suspect that impresses you no more favorably than it does me.)

Schiff, whom I like very much in this as in the Goldbergs and English Suites, goes for about $40 on Amazon.  Crossland, who ain't bad either, can be had for about $30.   

[Scarpia]

Schiff, whom I like very much in this as in the Goldbergs and English Suites, goes for about $40 on Amazon.  Crossland, who ain't bad either, can be had for about $30.

All of which I have.   More to the point, the Woodward recording on another boutique label, which up until now I thought of as expensive, is 28 pounds on MDT, as opposed to 40 pounds for Koroliov (comparing prices for the 48).  In both cases shipping would be 3 pounds.  I see the exchange rate has moved to favor US purchasers, 1 pound = 1.5 dollars.

[Bulldog]

I'm to plunk down $80 to find out if I like it?  Sorry, there are too many other recordings of the WTC that I've never heard.  I can try out 3 of them for the price of this one.  If this recording is as good as you say, well that's just a shame.  I suspect it's mediocre.  People who bought it need to invent a narrative for why they let themselves be taken advantage of.

Let's get down to Earth about this matter:

1.  Koroliov is never mediocre.

2.  I didn't pay one cent for my copies of his WTC and consider the performances outstanding.

3. There are recordings that transcend adjectives such as excellent or satisfying; the Koroliov WTC is in this category.

4.  Sometimes, these transcendent recordings are only available at a very high price.

5.  Your decision to make, but don't make the mistake of depreciating the long-term value of the recordings in question because you don't want to pay the freight.

[Scarpia]

Let's get down to Earth about this matter:

1.  Koroliov is never mediocre.

2.  I didn't pay one cent for my copies of his WTC and consider the performances outstanding.

3. There are recordings that transcend adjectives such as excellent or satisfying; the Koroliov WTC is in this category.

4.  Sometimes, these transcendent recordings are only available at a very high price.

5.  Your decision to make, but don't make the mistake of depreciating the long-term value of the recordings in question because you don't want to pay the freight.

I see, how did you manage to get it without paying a cent?

[Bulldog]

I see, how did you manage to get it without paying a cent?

A friend made copies for me.  Unlike some of the folks on the board, I have no problem with CD-R's.  Each of the four discs offers fantastic sound that I expect will hold up for decades.

[Scarpia]

A friend made copies for me.  Unlike some of the folks on the board, I have no problem with CD-R's.  Each of the four discs offers fantastic sound that I expect will hold up for decades.

Lucky dog.

There is no reason to imagine that a CD-R would sound any different from the CD it was copied from.   After all, I can copy 700 Mb of data to a CDR and read it back without losing single bit of data.  How long they will last another question.  I have definitely had CDRs that became unreadable after being left in the car on a sunny summer day.

[Bulldog]

Lucky dog.

There is no reason to imagine that a CD-R would sound any different from the CD it was copied from.   After all, I can copy 700 Mb of data to a CDR and read it back without losing single bit of data.  How long they will last another question.  I have definitely had CDRs that became unreadable after being left in the car on a sunny summer day.

I'd be dead if you left me in the car on hot summer's day.

[George]

A friend made copies for me. 

I got mine from an anonymous friend. In cases like this, I have no problem living with a CD-R. If I happen to really fall in love with the performances (as I sometimes do), I will likely buy the CDs at some point. 

[Scarpia]

I got mine from an anonymous friend. In cases like this, I have no problem living with a CD-R. If I happen to really fall in love with the performances (as I sometimes do), I will likely buy the CDs at some point.

Web sites ring with the praises of these recordings from people who listening to illegitimate copies.  What a sucker I would be to actually buy the thing.  Probably there is only one copy in circulation and it hasn't gotten to my town yet.

[71 dB]

After all, I can copy 700 MB of data to a CDR and read it back without losing single bit of data.

Data discs use stronger error correction (more bits used for that). That's why a CD-R takes more music than data (700 MB data discs take 80 minutes of music when 80 minutes of stereo 44100 Hz/16 bits music means about 800 MB of PCM data).

[Scarpia]

Data discs use stronger error correction (more bits used for that). That's why a CD-R takes more music than data (700 MB data discs take 80 minutes of music when 80 minutes of stereo 44100 Hz/16 bits music means about 800 MB of PCM data).

I was referring to the process of burning an audio CD and comparing the data on the resulting CD-R to the original data, be that the original CD or the source wav files.