Thread: Favorite Bach pianists.

For today it's Perahia and Schiff, tomorrow will see.

Originally Posted by Bulldog

My favorites include Koroliov, Gould, Woodward, Rubsam, and Gulda. My top pick is Tureck.

I listened to Koroliov play the fifth French suite a couple of weeks ago. Interesting ornamentation in the allemande.

This was released quite recently, and it has an almost complete live Well Tempered Clavier, just about listenable sound. I’ve only listened to BK 2. She takes a bit of time to settle down but when she does it’s a strong force of nature, powerful enough to make it worth enduring the sound quality.

8ADEB20A-5025-4C8D-A5F2-F943143625D9.jpeg

The Scribendum Yudina 26 CD set also has WTC, sometimes it's not very expensive:
http://www.musicweb-international.co..._art_SC813.htm
http://www.scribendumrecordings.com/...udina/11333768

The Yudina 10 CD set mentioned above:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...ersary-edition


Some often played favourites:


Goldberg - Schiff/decca

WTC - Feinberg, Richter

French Suites - Gavrilov/emi

English Suites 2+3 /Pogorelich/DG

Concertos. piano version - Gavrilov/Marriner, Gould/Golschmann etc.

João Carlos Martin and the Sir. The first is the biggest Bach expert / maniac / devoted, ever lived, because he is playing only Bach.

I can't imagine ever tiring of Gould's Bach. I have every recording he has done of Bach. However, I am always interested in hearing other Bach interpretations.

I find it odd that so many people combine their likes with Hewitt and Schiff. I am not a fan of Hewitt's Bach (I know, I'm an outlier, especially given the fact that I used to manage her back in the '90s - Lovely woman), but I must concur with the Schiff enthusiasm on this thread. I also enjoy Yudina (Took me a few listens to warm up to, but I am now firmly on board with her), Feltsman I also believe does Bach well and one (imo) OUTSTANDING Golberg is by Andrei Gavrilov. I believe it is one of the greatest "newer" recordings of this epic piece of music. I will be listening to his French Suites and Keyboard Concertos in this coming week. If they even come close to his Goldberg, it will be most enjoyable.

V

At the top of my 21st-Century playlist of contemporary Bach interpretations (rather than the metronomic, HIP Bach playlist approach on period instruments) are the Toccatas by Amandine Savary. Not like Gould's at all, which I have also enjoyed... She gets so much out of each one with such a beautifully refined and expressive touch. Some will call these "Romantic" interpretations, but I don't care. I call them expressive interpretations because there's something more human about them. I think even Bach would have come to enjoy her inspired playing. I cannot take lifeless rote performances of Bach's great works and I like his Toccatas as much as anything else he ever wrote, perhaps more. There's something entirely human about them as secular works, and Amandine brings out what seems like another side of his personality... To proclaim Bach simply a great composer does not do him justice. He was a bottomless pit of inspired creativity and inventiveness, and his Toccata's performed as Amandine does here are for me unique and addictive despite not being performed as Gould does. She finds something deliciously fresh and new in these marvelous works though it took me a while to get used to them.

Another marvelously expressive Bach interpreter: Alfred Brendel:

From a great CD:



This is another example of non-metronomic, non-robotic Bach that sounds human and played more flexibly and expressively than usual in more conservative interpretations. It’s played more lyrically and flowing and he builds it marvelously. But not every keyboard player can do this where it works (it works for me).

Sokolov, Gould, and Schepkin are my favorites, but I also have a number of Bach piano recordings I treasure from Feinberg, Yudina, Richter, Zhukov, Pogorelich, and Argerich.

Originally Posted by DavidA

I heard Angela Hewitt in concert playing Book 2 of the WTC. At the end I wondered if JSB would have thought we were all mad listening to it all at one sitting.

There are pianists who I would happily hear perform Book 2 of WTC in one sitting. Hewitt is definitely not one of them.

I'm surprised at the resent for Hewitt...Whatsamatter? I think she is astonishing