Bach on the harpsichord, lute-harpsichord, clavichord

[milk]

To my knowledge he's recorded the Goldberg Variations twice...

Once for Opus 111

[asin]B0000DEQDA[/asin]

And once for Mirare

[asin]B0000T6KEG[/asin]

Both are excellent but from what I recall the Mirare is the flashier of the two.

Oops. I forgot about that. I only have the Mirare and it's great. The DHM Leonhardt is the one of his that I like best. I think Gilbert is really great. I also really like Blandine Rannou's but I think, perhaps, there is a lack of consensus about her recording.

[betterthanfine]

Thanks for your responses, guys! I think I'll sample Hantaï's second recording and whatever Leonhardt I can find, along with the Bonizzoni and report back.

[Sammy]

To my knowledge he's recorded the Goldberg Variations twice...

Once for Opus 111

[asin]B0000DEQDA[/asin]

And once for Mirare

[asin]B0000T6KEG[/asin]

Both are excellent but from what I recall the Mirare is the flashier of the two.

I'm surprised you consider the Mirare, recorded 10 years after the Opus 111, to have more flash.  I find it more introspective and darker than his earlier version which is loaded with exuberance.

[PaulSC]

[asin]B0000T6KEG[/asin]

Every time I see this album cover, there is a moment where my brain interprets the image in the background as a hand-soap dispenser.

[kishnevi]

Oops. I forgot about that. I only have the Mirare and it's great. The DHM Leonhardt is the one of his that I like best. I think Gilbert is really great. I also really like Blandine Rannou's but I think, perhaps, there is a lack of consensus about her recording.

Oh, I forgot I had the Rannou.
Count me in the naysayers about that one.  I don't like Egarr's GV recording because it's boring (I like to say that Egarr seems to want to prove the old myth that the work was written as a cure for insomnia), but I don't like Rannou because it seems wrongheaded so much of the time.   Perhaps it's not fair to Rannou, but the best way I can express it is to suggest her Goldbergs sound like what HJ Lim would do, if HJ Lim actually had enough technique to pull her ideas off.

(Meantime I'm ordering the Opus 111 Hantai on another tab of my browser.  The price for the Mirare means it is merely wishlisted.)

[stingo]

I'm surprised you consider the Mirare, recorded 10 years after the Opus 111, to have more flash.  I find it more introspective and darker than his earlier version which is loaded with exuberance.

I'll have to revisit both of them then as my recollection may be in error.

[Mandryka]

I tend to agree with Sammy about the two Hantais, so it would be interesting if you've noticed somehing we've missed. I must say I'm much more familar with the first.

If you're looking for interesting Goldbergs, try to hear Frisch's raher elegant and light account. And Vartolo's extraordinary symphonic account. and Verlet's second recording. You already know other favourites I suppose, like Leonhardt's DHM and (less so) Glen Wilson's .

The Vartolo is essential. In my opinion he's at the vanguard of a new era. Be there or be square.

[stingo]

Yes - Frisch's account is excellent too!

[Marc]

Thanks for your responses, guys! I think I'll sample Hantaï's second recording and whatever Leonhardt I can find, along with the Bonizzoni and report back.

Nope.
That won't do.
Just buy all of them, including the non-mentioned, and become a twisted Bach collector like so many of us.

Oh, and welcome to the board!

[Sammy]

I'll have to revisit both of them then as my recollection may be in error.

I'll be direct - your recollection IS in error.  However, you'll likely have a great time listening to both Hantai recordings.

[stingo]

No worries. Right or wrong it'll be a fun time going through both.

[milk]

I tend to agree with Sammy about the two Hantais, so it would be interesting if you've noticed somehing we've missed. I must say I'm much more familar with the first.

If you're looking for interesting Goldbergs, try to hear Frisch's raher elegant and light account. And Vartolo's extraordinary symphonic account. and Verlet's second recording. You already know other favourites I suppose, like Leonhardt's DHM and (less so) Glen Wilson's .

The Vartolo is essential. In my opinion he's at the vanguard of a new era. Be there or be square.

I grabbed Vartolo's Goldberg and AoF on your recommendation. Wow! These are really extraordinary recordings. Thanks!

[Mandryka]

I grabbed Vartolo's Goldberg and AoF on your recommendation. Wow! These are really extraordinary recordings. Thanks!

Do you like the singing in the Goldbergs, in the quadlibet? I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard it.

I'm listening on spotify so I don't have the notes, so I don't know who's singing.  Can anyone help me out? Is this the only recording with a sung Var 30?

The AoF is interesting because of the internal tempi changes I think. Suddenly the pieces have  codas, preludes, take the form of a triptych, an arch. I would like to hear more imaginative Bach performances like that, a WTC in the same style for example.

[milk]

Do you like the singing in the Goldbergs, in the quadlibet? I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard it.

I'm listening on spotify so I don't have the notes, so I don't know who's singing.  Can anyone help me out? Is this the only recording with a sung Var 30?

The AoF is interesting because of the internal tempi changes I think. Suddenly the pieces have  codas, preludes, take the form of a triptych, an arch. I would like to hear more imaginative Bach performances like that, a WTC in the same style for example.

Yes i like it. It kind of shocked me. I was going to ask for an explanation of this but I didn't want to impose. Is this related to a cantata or something? I got the Frisch also. It's like the polar opposite of the Vartolo.

[Opus106]

Yes i like it. It kind of shocked me. I was going to ask for an explanation of this but I didn't want to impose. Is this related to a cantata or something?

I have no idea of what you two are talking about , but the quodlibet from the GV is a party song about cabbages and pork or something like that.

[North Star]

I have no idea of what you two are talking about , but the quodlibet from the GV is a party song about cabbages and pork or something like that.

I had no idea of this previously, but Wikipedia is informative:

This quodlibet is based on multiple German folk songs, two of which are Ich bin solang nicht bei dir g'west, ruck her, ruck her ("I have so long been away from you, come closer, come closer") and Kraut und Rüben haven mich vertrieben, hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, wär ich länger blieben ("Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, had my mother cooked meat, I'd have opted to stay"). The others have been forgotten. The Kraut und Rüben theme, under the title of La Capricciosa, had previously been used by Dietrich Buxtehude for his thirty-two partite in G major, BuxWV 250.[12]

Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians):

As soon as they were assembled a chorale was first struck up. From this devout beginning they proceeded to jokes which were frequently in strong contrast. That is, they then sang popular songs partly of comic and also partly of indecent content, all mixed together on the spur of the moment. ... This kind of improvised harmonizing they called a Quodlibet, and not only could laugh over it quite whole-heartedly themselves, but also aroused just as hearty and irresistible laughter in all who heard them.

Forkel's anecdote (which is likely to be true, given that he was able to interview Bach's sons), suggests fairly clearly that Bach meant the Quodlibet to be a joke.

[Opus106]

I had no idea of this previously, but Wikipedia is informative:

So Profound, no?

Okay, so no pigs. I think I must have had that confused with the lyrics about castrating them, to which Haydn(?) set his music.

[Mandryka]

got the Frisch also. It's like the polar opposite of the Vartolo.

Maybe Frisch errs on the side of elegance and lightness, I don't know. It's entertaining as a recording though. Has anyone any comments about Lars Ulrik Mortensen's Goldbergs, which I'd like to hear just because I've been enjoying his Buxtehude solo records?

[kishnevi]

There's BWV 524
Hopefully this code works
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Qs9-LFQuGNc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

If not, the URL is http://youtu.be/Qs9-LFQuGNc


ETA: No it doesn't work.  What is the proper script to embed Youtubes?

[Opus106]

ETA: No it doesn't work.  What is the proper script to embed Youtubes?

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,2663.0.html

If you the YouTube page's link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs9-LFQuGNc, the stuff that goes between the tags should be http://www.youtube.com/v/Qs9-LFQuGNc. (The quote mode of this post should make it clear.)

http://www.youtube.com/v/Qs9-LFQuGNc