Topic: Bach on the piano

[dirkronk]

Generally for the partitas, Weissenberg is tops. Except for one thing. There's a record by Tureck on Doremi -- made when she was a youngster -- which is so incredibly perfect and exciting that it even beats Alexis.

Didn't see the Doremi listed on Amazon. I'll check elsewhere. I did find a VAI with partitas 1,2 & 6, though this was recorded later than what I would term "youngster." Do you have a date and/or venue for the Doremi, Mandryka?

Though I have some Tureck, I haven't found myself going ga-ga for her Bach. Not yet, anyway. Maybe the partita you speak of will be my breakthrough with Bach by this pianist. However, I do have a VAI entitled "The Young Firebrand" which includes some very impressive performances of Mendelssohn, Scarlatti, Brahms et al...and not a bit of Bach in the mix!

I'm going to have to investigate Weissenberg's Bach. I know that I have at least one LP somewhere in a box or on a shelf, but it will take a bit of searching to find it, and I have nothing on CD. Most of my Bach listening recently has been of the WTC, and for me Richter and Feinberg rule there. After a couple of decades of trying to convince myself that Gould was really it, I decided "Nah"--and gave my copy of the complete WTC to a friend who's a certified Gould fan. I DO have excerpts along with assorted other Bach works in a commemorative Gould LP box set, and that's enough for me. Other recordings from early in my discovery of Bach on piano--all on vinyl--were by Kempff, Argerich and a very humble-looking Educo LP of Lili Kraus doing shorter Bach pieces in the most heart-meltingly beautiful manner. I return to these all when the Bach bug bites.

Dirk

[Opus106]

Can someone confirm if the Italian Concerto featured in this CD was recorded during the same time (same session, possibly) as this video? Thanks.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/Lb4A5D6u_KY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/Lb4A5D6u_KY</a>

[Mandryka]

Didn't see the Doremi listed on Amazon. I'll check elsewhere. I did find a VAI with partitas 1,2 & 6, though this was recorded later than what I would term "youngster." Do you have a date and/or venue for the Doremi, Mandryka?

Though I have some Tureck, I haven't found myself going ga-ga for her Bach. Not yet, anyway. Maybe the partita you speak of will be my breakthrough with Bach by this pianist. However, I do have a VAI entitled "The Young Firebrand" which includes some very impressive performances of Mendelssohn, Scarlatti, Brahms et al...and not a bit of Bach in the mix!

I'm going to have to investigate Weissenberg's Bach. I know that I have at least one LP somewhere in a box or on a shelf, but it will take a bit of searching to find it, and I have nothing on CD. Most of my Bach listening recently has been of the WTC, and for me Richter and Feinberg rule there. After a couple of decades of trying to convince myself that Gould was really it, I decided "Nah"--and gave my copy of the complete WTC to a friend who's a certified Gould fan. I DO have excerpts along with assorted other Bach works in a commemorative Gould LP box set, and that's enough for me. Other recordings from early in my discovery of Bach on piano--all on vinyl--were by Kempff, Argerich and a very humble-looking Educo LP of Lili Kraus doing shorter Bach pieces in the most heart-meltingly beautiful manner. I return to these all when the Bach bug bites.

Dirk

I would like to hear the Kraus -- I like her Mozart and her one Haydn sonata a lot.

Here's the Tureck:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=118850

I think Gould is overrated in Bach -- though he is clearly important in the reception history of pieces like the Goldbergs. But there are a handful of performances of his which I think are really special -- like the final fugue from Art of Fugue, and some of the Inventions.

Weissenberg is great I think -- though he is a real virtuoso, he is very colourful and emotional in Bach at the same time as being technically brilliant. Someone's uploaded his Golbergs on Rapidshare Library -- so if you are a member you can hear them for free!

Writing this has made me realise that historical Bach doesn't figure much -- I have some recordings by Schnabel but I'll have to listen to them again. They certainly haven't made much of an impact.

I'm embarrassed to have written that. I dusted down the Schnabel Bach CD and it's bloody marvelous -- outstanding Italian Concerto and a beautiful Toccata BWV 912

[Bulldog]

For the Goldbergs Weissenberg comes top for me --

I acquired this recording a few years ago even though most of the reviews I had read were not complimentary.  I was very much taken with the interpretation, although a few aspects were problematic such as his speeding up in the second sections and an overall lack of vertical lift.  However, the excitement he generates, his sharply defined contours, superb voice interaction and incisive emotional content easily wins the day.

[dirkronk]

I dusted down the Schnabel Bach CD and it's bloody marvelous -- outstanding Italian Concerto and a beautiful Toccata BWV 912

Yes, while Schnabel's most famous for his Beethoven, and is certainly no slouch in those, I've always liked him better in other repertoire--notably Bach and (especially) Schubert.

There are other historical recordings and artists worthy of mention in Bach, of course. Backhaus and even Gieseking come to mind, actually, and among the too-soon-gone, Kapell used to program the partita #4 a good deal, and Rosita Renard's partita #1 from her Carnegie Hall concert makes one wish she'd done much more. Oddly enough, the big name--Edwin Fischer in the WTC--is one I CAN appreciate, if I'm in the right mood...but when I'm not in said mood, the same recording fails to wow me. And I don't seem to have any such reaction to any of his other Bach recordings--just that WTC. Go figure. One online acquaintance suggested it may be due in part to the transfer I have, which is an earlier Naxos edition (apparently this title later went through a reissue); given the age of the recording, I don't expect superb sonics, but even so the dynamics on these CDs are, shall we say, less than optimum.

FWIW,

Dirk

[Mandryka]

Rosalyn Tureck playing Partita 5 (Praeambulum) and Partita 6 (Sarabande).

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=c5efdaabf63a08b7e62ea590dc5e5dbbcad9543e5e4099abc95965eaa7bc68bc

[orbital]

Talking of Pletnev, someone has put a fantastic video of him playing 6th partita on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuEGyRa3fMA. I want more -- anyone know about it? It says it was taken from an Amsterdam 2004 concert -- was it the same one as the notorious Chopin Preludes concert?

I have a recording of Pletnev playing the 6th partita -live recording from La Roque D'Antheron 2003. It is very well played (the birds accompanying the music is a plus, too  )

[Mandryka]

I have a recording of Pletnev playing the 6th partita -live recording from La Roque D'Antheron 2003. It is very well played (the birds accompanying the music is a plus, too  )

So how did (do)  you (I)  get it?

[orbital]

So how did (do)  you (I)  get it?

I don't remember how I got it, but you will get it via mediafire (tomorrow, alas  )

[jlaurson]

This is a very happy discovery for me:


Bach with Edna Stern

Great music intelligently put together and terrifically played; the latest Bach recording on the ZigZag Territories label is all but assured a spot among my favorite recordings of this year. If Edna Stern, a Krystian Zimerman and Leon Fleisher student, only played a selection of Preludes and Fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier,  and even if she played them as well as she does on “Nun komm’ der Heiden Heiland”, the disc might have gotten a spin, very favorable notice, and slipped into the recesses of my Bach saturated mind.

But... [cont.]

[Coopmv]

Rosalyn Tureck playing Partita 5 (Praeambulum) and Partita 6 (Sarabande).

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=c5efdaabf63a08b7e62ea590dc5e5dbbcad9543e5e4099abc95965eaa7bc68bc

I plan on getting the Tureck's Partita.

I truly enjoyed the WTC by her, both excellent interpretation and execution ...

[Coopmv]

Here is an excellent recording by the ASMIF and Gavrilov.  Another reason I do not run out to get the Perahia's version since I doubt he will do better than Gavrilov.  Gavrilov may be a better pianist as well.  I will leave this up to George since he is a much better judge of pianist than I am.

[George]

Here is an excellent recording by the ASMIF and Gavrilov.  Another reason I do not run out to get the Perahia's version since I doubt he will do better than Gavrilov.  Gavrilov may be a better pianist as well.  I will leave this up to George since he is a much better judge of pianist than I am.

I think that would be a mistake, for I am only an authority on judging what I like. Even if our tastes are very similar, at some point they are bound to diverge. I haven't found one person who agrees with everything I like, nor do I expect to, for we are all different people with individual tastes. That said, I have respect for both pianists, though I have not heard their Bach. Gavrilov's Bach is already in my wishlist and I haven't heard Perahia's name come up in any Bach discussion.   

[Opus106]

I haven't heard Perahia's name come up in any Bach discussion.   

You, sir, need to hear more Bach discussions. 

[Coopmv]

I think that would be a mistake, for I am only an authority on judging what I like. Even if our tastes are very similar, at some point they are bound to diverge. I haven't found one person who agrees with everything I like, nor do I expect to, for we are all different people with individual tastes. That said, I have respect for both pianists, though I have not heard their Bach. Gavrilov's Bach is already in my wishlist and I haven't heard Perahia's name come up in any Bach discussion.   

 

One problem I have is Perahia records for Sony, which has overpriced its classical CD's for some times.  I am just not inclined to pay extra just to get Perahia.

[George]

One problem I have is Perahia records for Sony, which has overpriced its classical CD's for some times.  I am just not inclined to pay extra just to get Perahia.

Some of his CDs are at budget price, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-4-Ballades-Perahia-Frederic/dp/B000002A6J

[Coopmv]

Some of his CDs are at budget price, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-4-Ballades-Perahia-Frederic/dp/B000002A6J

 

At least I have half dozen of CD's by Gavrilov, including that Handel's double that included him and Richter.  All his CD's were picked up a while back.  I do not have any recordings by Perahia.

[jlaurson]

 One problem I have is Perahia records for Sony, which has overpriced its classical CD's for some times.  I am just not inclined to pay extra just to get Perahia.

Really? I find that even the most cursory of Amazon searches reveals all his Bach CDs to be available between 10 and 18 USD, most of them below $14. (Except 2-CD sets.) At that rate, it's less expensive to get his Bach discs individually than on the (imported??) Bach Box Sony has released.

If you are interested in very musical, richly romantic Bach (no exaggerations or willfullness, though), why don't you try his Goldberg Variations.


Why blurt our your assumptions without a little internet research, first? Just like in CD collection, quantity counts less than quality, when it comes to GMG-Forum contributions. (In which you are, I believe, the record holder with an average 18.5 posts/day.  )

Cheers,

jfl

[Coopmv]

Why blurt our your assumptions without a little internet research, first? Just like in CD collection, quantity counts less than quality, when it comes to GMG-Forum contributions. (In which you are, I believe, the record holder with an average 18.5 posts/day.  )

Cheers,

jfl

Agree, quantity counts less than quality.  That is why I do not have 30 versions of Bach Organ Works or 30 versions of Beethoven Symphonies (I only have 17 and doubt if that number will go over 20).  I also take pride in having a good number of OOP CD's, a clear indication of my ability to discern long-term values.

[DavidRoss]

One problem I have is Perahia records for Sony, which has overpriced its classical CD's for some times.  I am just not inclined to pay extra just to get Perahia.

Huh? There are lots of "Sony" budget discs, often superb recordings from the Columbia vaults, and their new issues are priced comparable to other "majors" (and less than many highly regarded specialty labels).

Perahia's Goldbergs on Sony is a solid performance that was very favorably reviewed.  Amazon's price with shipping is $13.98; marketplace sellers offer it from $7.68 new and cheaper used.