Bach on the piano

Started by mn dave, November 13, 2008, 06:12:24 AM

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Leo K.

Quote from: springrite on October 10, 2012, 05:07:25 AM
Bach Partitas (Zhu Xiao-Mei)

This is what I texted to a friend about this set:

"If you had a wife who plays Bach for you every night, you'd want her to play it just like this: Warm, intimate, without being overly passionate or sexy; technically secure and polished without flashy virtuosic display. In one word: homey."

I like Zhu Ziao-Mei's Bach, your text describes my feelings exactly. In particular, I love her Goldbergs and WTC cycle.

Leo K.

#481
Quote from: Leo K. on January 08, 2014, 01:53:58 PM
I like Zhu Ziao-Mei's Bach, your text describes my feelings exactly. In particular, I love her Goldbergs and WTC cycle.

[asin]B00SCD8T3C[/asin]

I've been enjoying this Bach recital immensely, as played by Remi Geniet. Light articulation and graceful phrasing. Aces!

Kontrapunctus

I have most of Vladimir Feltsman's Bach CDs and thoroughly enjoy his playing and interpretations. He doesn't hide the fact that he's playing a modern concert grand, but he doesn't just hold down the sustain pedal and pound out a series of blurred notes, either! He does occasionally take liberties such as raising or lowering a line an octave, but the results to my ears are always effective. I most recently bought this one:


kishnevi

Quote from: Toccata&Fugue on August 19, 2016, 12:11:12 PM
I have most of Vladimir Feltsman's Bach CDs and thoroughly enjoy his playing and interpretations. He doesn't hide the fact that he's playing a modern concert grand, but he doesn't just hold down the sustain pedal and pound out a series of blurred notes, either! He does occasionally take liberties such as raising or lowering a line an octave, but the results to my ears are always effective. I most recently bought this one:



Seconded.   Although I actually prefer his non Bach recordings to his Bach recordings.

Kontrapunctus

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 19, 2016, 12:12:31 PM
Seconded.   Although I actually prefer his non Bach recordings to his Bach recordings.

Have you heard his late Beethoven Sonatas? If so, how are they?

kishnevi

Quote from: Toccata&Fugue on August 21, 2016, 02:48:02 PM
Have you heard his late Beethoven Sonatas? If so, how are they?
Yes, I have them.  I liked them, but it has been long enough since I listened to those recordings that I can't say more than that. 

Que

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on December 24, 2016, 03:49:00 PM
Is there a dedicated thread Bach on modern piano? Couldn't find it....

So I'll post this here


Overall, well done, about equal to Angela Hewitt's set (which I like greatly) in general quality.
VOID is his own label, set up when he could find no backing for the project (although he's also released a number of non Bach recordings on VOID as well).

ASIN is B0053HBKZO.

Here it is... :)  And I agree, that is an excellent set.

Ivo Jansens' Bach has had some long time fans here.


Q

Jo498

It seems that the single discs of the Janssen set are comparably/too expensive, but are there any particular favorites (I am certainly not getting a big box).
And does anyone like the quirky recordings by Joao Carlos Martins? I have his partitas and the live recording where he and another one alternate preludes by Bach and Chopin (which is fascinating but the sound is rather poor) and I am not quite sure what to make of them. It also seems that Martins recorded some Bach twice, once in the 1960s as a young man and then later in middle age in the 1980s or 1990s.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

premont

Quote from: Jo498 on December 29, 2016, 01:55:08 AM
It seems that the single discs of the Janssen set are comparably/too expensive, but are there any particular favorites (I am certainly not getting a big box).

All of it is very good. If I had to choose from it, I would choose the WTC.
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Mandryka

Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on January 01, 2017, 05:16:35 AM
Latest on Forbes:

The 10 Best Classical Recordings Of 2016 (Re-Releases)

Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well Tempered Clavier (Books I & II), Friedrich Gulda, MPS / Edel (0300650MSW)


I agree about the new Gulda transfer and the performance. The only thing I'm less enthusiastic about than you in the review is Zhu.

But then I've noticed that the French seem to have a bit of a love affair with her!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

SurprisedByBeauty

Quote from: Mandryka on January 01, 2017, 11:56:53 AM
I agree about the new Gulda transfer and the performance. The only thing I'm less enthusiastic about than you in the review is Zhu.

But then I've noticed that the French seem to have a bit of a love affair with her!

Yes. I'm not French, actually, but she's the 'secret great'; they key to showing one's sophistication by way of appreciation. She's what Sokolov used to be. But even seeing right through that, I still love her performances. Haven't heard her new Goldbergs yet, though.

Mandryka

Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on January 01, 2017, 12:16:08 PM
Yes. I'm not French, actually, but she's the 'secret great'; they key to showing one's sophistication by way of appreciation. She's what Sokolov used to be. But even seeing right through that, I still love her performances. Haven't heard her new Goldbergs yet, though.

Yes it's interesting that Sokolov lost that cachet as soon as he signed with DG.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Que on December 26, 2016, 02:46:21 AM
Here it is... :)  And I agree, that is an excellent set.

Ivo Jansens' Bach has had some long time fans here.


Q
Great CD set, including wonderful interpretations of Inventions and Sinfonias.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

#494
Sunny side of the street.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh


Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Anybody, any opinion on this?


Mandryka

#497
Lise de la Salle Bach/Busoni chaconne, not her commercial recording, this came up on rmcr, I like it very much. Curious about other opinions.

https://www.youtube.com/v/H8gBThplm5I&feature=youtu.be
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

#498
Yes, sugary, overly sentimental, and a lot of reverb. Still irresistible. He proffers his own aestheticism.

premont

Quote from: Mandryka on January 12, 2018, 10:26:36 PM
Lise de la Salle Bach/Busoni chaconne, not her commercial recording, this came up on rmcr, I like it very much. Curious about other opinions.

https://www.youtube.com/v/H8gBThplm5I&feature=youtu.be

I have only listened to the first ca. 8 minutes (until the major episode starts). The arrangement as well as the interpretation are unashamed ultra-romantic, using the possibilities of the modern grand to the full (great contrasts both in texture and dynamics), and there is not much Bach left. One can argue, that a piano transcription/arrangement should be completely piano-idiomatic like this one, but I am not a great fan of that kind of romantic piano music, my temper does not oscillate with this kind of uninhibited emotional outbreaks.
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