Bach on the piano

[Verena]

Excellent work Verena, thank you.

And yes, Cato, Jean Paul!

You're all welcome. 

[milk]

I know Gulda has been discussed (perhaps quite) a bit on GMG. I listened to some of his clavichord recordings today, which are a real novelty - in a good way. Then I moved on to his piano. He seems very lyrical to me - almost like he makes chords of some of the counterpoint. I want to say he seems very anti-baroque for someone who went to the clavichord. I didn't realize until looking at wikipedia that he was into jazz. I take it that his approach to Bach (wtc) was much different than his contemporaries? I haven't really compared him to Demus but I'm thinking Gulda is quirky by comparison. Some Gulda is very interesting and some of it kind of annoying. Can anyone comment on what Gulda was up to?

[Mandryka]

I take it that his approach to Bach (wtc) was much different than his contemporaries?

Not in those clavichord recordings IMO, where his happy-clappy feel reminds me of Glen Gould, Anthony Newman, The Swingle Singers and sometimes Wanda Landowska and André Isoir for the sense of swing, the foot-tapping-ness of it.

In  early music of the time, the record companies found that the public had an appetite for strange instruments, and that clavichord he uses, which to me sounds like Loudon Wainwright III's guitar, fits the bill here.

[aukhawk]

I know Gulda has been discussed (perhaps quite) a bit on GMG. I listened to some of his clavichord recordings today, which are a real novelty - in a good way. Then I moved on to his piano. He seems very lyrical to me - almost like he makes chords of some of the counterpoint. I want to say he seems very anti-baroque for someone who went to the clavichord. I didn't realize until looking at wikipedia that he was into jazz. I take it that his approach to Bach (wtc) was much different than his contemporaries? I haven't really compared him to Demus but I'm thinking Gulda is quirky by comparison. Some Gulda is very interesting and some of it kind of annoying. Can anyone comment on what Gulda was up to?

I remember this double LP from 1971:


The Long Road to Freedom

(Long anticipating Nelson Mandela's book of a similar title.)  Which started with some Bach or maybe even earlier music I can't remember the details, and progressed over 4 sides to modernity finishing with an extended 'out there' free jazz solo improvisation.

[Jo498]

Gulda was extremely quirky, but not mainly in Bach, and more in his personality and public persona than in his actual playing. I admittedly have not heard his recordings on an electric? clavichord but remember that he also performed Viennese chanson style music under a pseudonym and on other occassions performed bare-naked. He was never as successful as a jazz player as in classical music, though.
His main Bach recording is the WTC (I have not heard his other Bach, a couple of suites and some shorter pieces I think). This was recorded extremely closely and drily (there are some new remasterings I don't know if they sound more pleasant or more extreme than the mid 1990s twofers). It's been a while that I heard it but I used to like it quite a bit. It is not as quirky as his persona and while somewhat percussive at times, the sound overall does not distract. I wouldn't call it lyrical, though. Overall it is more on the straightforward and "objective" side.

[milk]

sounds like Loudon Wainwright III's guitar

It does sound pretty strange. I was enjoying it this morning - actually kind of amazed by it. I was gonna say it's like some weird synthesizer.

[aukhawk]

Well Gulda recorded an adaptation of 'Light My Fire' (on the LP referenced above) so perhaps he also did 'Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road'.  Perhaps in the privacy of his own home. 
(Incidentally - useless and irrelevant - I once tuned LWIII's guitar for him.)

[Mandryka]

I once tuned LWIII's guitar for him.

Tell the story please

[Florestan]

Gulda played the guitar? Blimey, I never knew it.

[milk]

Virginia Black's partitas are really outstanding. How does she do it? They're very natural but not un-pianistic, if that makes sense. I think she pulls off a kind of magic and makes it sound effortless. Perhaps it's a kind of even dynamics while employing artful articulation - stressing counterpoint. Or maybe she's doing something like Rübsam? - Not as extreme, and without being cerebral, perhaps. I don't know about that but I don't think there's a hint of romanticism. Listening to Levin, it strikes me he's similar in his restrained sense of dynamics yet he's so much more extroverted and virtuoso. I want to say "manly" but that might cause trouble. Levin can't really be accused of sentimentality or sensitivity. But Black isn't exactly those things either and she has more color and she doesn't tire me out like Levin.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Confirming what many have already pointed out in this thread:

(Also heard him in concert a few days ago and it was stunning. Review to follow as well.)


Icelandic #Bach With Heart and Panache

https://classicstoday.com/review/icelandic-bach-with-heart-and-panache/

10/10

[Mandryka]

I think this is something that milk will enjoy -- the transcriptions CD I mean!

There's no Bach in it, but let's not let that get in the way. Hats off to Bartok for exploring Muffat, della Ciaia etc.

[milk]

I think this is something that milk will enjoy -- the transcriptions CD I mean!

There's no Bach in it, but let's not let that get in the way. Hats off to Bartok for exploring Muffat, della Ciaia etc.

I'm listening to it but am having a hard time figuring it out. Like, there are transcriptions but I can't track down what is being transcribed since what I can find is mostly about the famous transcribers.

[San Antone]

Recently I've been listening to Bach on the piano by Zhu Xiao-Mei, Dina Ugorskaja, Till Fellner and Jeremy Denk.  While Denk has recorded The Goldberg Variations, he has not done a complete Well-Tempered Clavier.  I wish he would record more Bach since he does a really good job with the TGV.  Of the other three, I like Dina Ugorskaja best, but both Till Fellner and Zhu Xiao-Mei are very enjoyable to listen to. Zhu seems to have recorded the most Bach.

[amw]

I've debated getting the Ugorskaja since her recent (and unfortunately posthumous) Schubert has a deep transcendental quality, and her Beethoven and Handel are at least pretty good as well. Feel like I might have too many WTCs on piano already though, especially since all of the ones I already have are somewhat unsatisfactory in specific pieces. None of my recent WTC acquisitions—Woodward, Levinas, Hill—were exactly what I wanted in a few key pieces (eg the C major and B minor from book I or the G sharp minor, A minor and B flat major from book II) so I didn't end up listening to any of them complete.

I like some of Zhu's Bach (remember enjoying the new goldbergs on accentus) but her WTC has never appealed to me for some reason.

[milk]

I think this is something that milk will enjoy -- the transcriptions CD I mean!

There's no Bach in it, but let's not let that get in the way. Hats off to Bartok for exploring Muffat, della Ciaia etc.

I have a hard time enjoying stuff like this. I don't know why. Are these organ transcriptions maybe? Sometimes there's a very heavy quality to transcriptions and certain pianists. It's like they've sucked all the baroque out of it.

[Mandryka]

I think this is something that milk will enjoy -- the transcriptions CD I mean!

There's no Bach in it, but let's not let that get in the way. Hats off to Bartok for exploring Muffat, della Ciaia etc.

I have a hard time enjoying stuff like this. I don't know why. Are these organ transcriptions maybe? Sometimes there's a very heavy quality to transcriptions and certain pianists. It's like they've sucked all the baroque out of it.

I got that one wrong then!

To be honest,  the thing that impressed me as much as anything was that these aren't just more bloody Bach transcriptions. It's not that there's too much Bach in the world, it's that there's too little of all the other great earlier baroque keyboard composers.

[milk]

I got that one wrong then!

To be honest,  the thing that impressed me as much as anything was that these aren't just more bloody Bach transcriptions. It's not that there's too much Bach in the world, it's that there's too little of all the other great earlier baroque keyboard composers.

some perspicacious pianist is going to come along with a Froberger recording to wow us. I can't believe it hasn't been done yet (not exactly). There are a few good early English recordings out there but not many.

[aukhawk]

Confirming what many have already pointed out in this thread:
(Also heard him in concert a few days ago and it was stunning. Review to follow as well.)


Icelandic #Bach With Heart and Panache

https://classicstoday.com/review/icelandic-bach-with-heart-and-panache/
10/10

Absolutely 10/10.
Just stay clear of him crossing over to the Dark Side 


Bach Reworks (Part 2) : Víkingur Ólafsson

[Mandryka]

some perspicacious pianist is going to come along with a Froberger recording to wow us. I can't believe it hasn't been done yet (not exactly). There are a few good early English recordings out there but not many.

Have you heard Sokolov?

https://www.youtube.com/v/2krTDn6MSWY