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Best or Favorite interpreter of Bach's "Keyboard" works.

29K views 106 replies 40 participants last post by  starthrower 
#1 ·
For years I wouldn't buy any of Bach's works for the Keyboard(piano)but Gould. It took me a long time to hear others but Gould. Then I saw Andras Schiff. WOW!!! Then I heard Rosalind Tureck. Double WOW!!!!! Both open my ears to new ideas of these works. While I am still high on Gould, I must confess I am leaning more towards Tureck as probably the best interpreter of the works. What do you think? Any others not mentioned?
 
#5 ·
I have Schiff's complete Decca set and Hewitt's complete set. I love them both.
 
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#7 ·
There are many, many recordings of Bach's keyboard works, including many by people who didn't/don't specialize in Bach, or even in the Baroque. One of the better known names is Weissenberg, who often included a Bach partita in his recitals. Bach's music makes up a large part of most harpsichordist's repertoire, along with Scarlatti, because there is so much good stuff there.

And I'm not even going to mention Loesser and Schepkin... oops.
 
#9 ·
Some performers play Bach on the piano while others play the harpsichord. I have never really enjoyed the sound of harpsichord as a solo instrument, but I know many people feel strongly that Baroque works should only be played on harpsichord. I'd appreciate some thoughts on why I should open up to the solo harpsichord for Bach (and others).
 
#10 ·
Very good question and probably an excellant discussion. I can only answer in simple layman terms. It comes down the sound of the instrument you want to hear. While I enjoy the solo harpsichord, I enjoy more the sound of the "modern" piano. Some will say and I cannot disagree w/that, the true Bach sound comes from the harpsichord. Fair enough. However, as I said, it comes down to what you what to hear and enjoy. Simple, I know but I am not educated enough in music to answer any other way.
 
#12 ·
Tureck?,...really? I hardly remembered the name because I probably haven't heard her in twenty years but I had the same "double wow" experience: At how terribly bad it was. It seemed to take her ten minutes just to get through the aria and it was all chopped up. And I'm talking about a '95 performance which is after a supposedly illustrious career and she's using sheet music????(????????????) No respect for anyone who performs in from of a live audience with sheet music. To me,...simply unacceptable; especially in a solo recital. Sure, she can play Bach and actually has a nice touch to it but adds way too much of her own personality and the lack of virtuosity is appalling. It was kinda sad and not because of age because my boy, Earl (who couldn't play Bach, either), died at well over 90 years old and was a virtuoso til the day the light took him. Anyway,...

For mere mortals, I enjoy Simone Dinnerstein.
 
#13 ·
I admit that I don't care for Tureck's playing, but... in 1995 she was pretty feeble. Few people age as well as Wild did. I figure she recorded because some folks who could get it done asked her to.

I too like Dinnerstein's Bach, but she certainly has 'a mind of her own'. I suspect that fellow member Mandryka (I know him from rmcr, a civilized gentleman) does not care for her interpretations.
 
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#14 ·
When listening to Bach's keyboard works I prefer,
keyboard concertos:
p: Perahia h: Kipnis/Munchinger and Kipnis/Marriner

toccatas:
p: Hewitt h: Gilbert

2&3 Part Inventions
Hewitt & Schiff

partitas:
p: Perahia h: Rousset

English & French suites & WTC
p: Hewitt h: Gilbert

goldberg:

p: Perahia h: Hantai

French ov:
Schiff & Hewitt

chromatic fant.&fugue
p: Schiff h: Gilbert

Italian concerto:
p: Perahia h: Gilbert

the art of fugue:
h: Moroney

If I was forced for only one, it'd be Perahia by a very long distance
 
#41 ·
Earlier, Richter was constantly insecure, keeping the score, or scores, laid out on a table backstage, especially in full length recitals: he would pour over them before going onstage to perform, and pour over the second half during the intermission.

Later, alcohol will take that toll, and alcoholism was there, not just a little.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Tureck?,...really? I hardly remembered the name because I probably haven't heard her in twenty years but I had the same "double wow" experience: At how terribly bad it was. It seemed to take her ten minutes just to get through the aria and it was all chopped up. And I'm talking about a '95 performance which is after a supposedly illustrious career and she's using sheet music????(????????????) No respect for anyone who performs in from of a live audience with sheet music. To me,...simply unacceptable; especially in a solo recital. Sure, she can play Bach and actually has a nice touch to it but adds way too much of her own personality and the lack of virtuosity is appalling. It was kinda sad and not because of age because my boy, Earl (who couldn't play Bach, either), died at well over 90 years old and was a virtuoso til the day the light took him. Anyway,...
I don't get what is the problem with sheet music.

Clara Schumann was the first pianist who performed all pieces from memory. This means that all performers pre-Clara Schumann used sheet music in their performances. This includes Mozart, Clementi, Beethoven, Haydn and J.S. Bach. You won't say these were bad performers, will you ?

A 1995 performance ? Was it the St Petersburg concert ? This one ?


I must say I like it very much. But that's just me.

As for your comment about virtuosity, I happen to disagree. I'm with Mandryka here. I'm not interested in technique, I'm interested in music. That's completely different. As Kieran said in another thread, speed-typing isn't poetry.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Can Glenn Gould be saved beyond all his idiosyncrasies ?with the passing of time ,one can stand back and decide more than 30 years after his death.
I do think Gould is an interesting musician. I don't mind the grimacing and weird movements he does while playing. It was clear that these were necessary for him to get the sound he wanted to produce. The humming is another story though.

However I don't like his interpretations that much. Especially his Bach interpretations. They are interesting, but they are more Gould than Bach in my opinion.

I do like his Grieg and his Sibelius though. His Mendelssohn is weird just as his Bach. He plays the Songs without words like fugues. Check it out.
 
#40 ·
Well there is a copy for sale but it's more than £200.

Re organ, if I think about what I've enjoyed over the past four months or so, there's been Kei Koito's Art of Fugue, Helmut Weinberger's Trio Sonatas, and Rubsam's Leipzig Chorales on Naxos. All these things through spotify.
 
#47 ·
Actually it's not a legend. I've read in one of his own books. Because of a mandatory repertoire change, it was going to be his first performance of Franck's Symphonic variations during a world tour with Wallenstein. He was handed the sheet the morning they got on the train(I want to say from Prague to Byrno in Czech Republic), he practiced it on his lap on the train and played it by heart that evening

You have to follow my posts :)
 
#50 · (Edited)
I was enamored by the HIP school of thought a few years ago and was vehemently opposed to the idea of Bach on grand piano/ fortepiano (to my own detriment) and my favourite performer was Wanda Landowska. Then I came across Sviatoslav Richter playing WTC on Youtube. I was converted instantaneously! I had heard him tossing off fiendishly difficult works like child's play with an unmatched ability to project the meaning of a work like an eagle surveying the sky without losing any details. But nothing could have prepared me for his Bach- it was transcendental. One has to listen to him to believe it. He is the best Bach interpreter in my book now. Others in order of prefernce are- Rosalyn Tureck, Maria Pires, Maria Yudina, Glenn Gould and Murray Perahia. I don't like Andras Schiff's Bach- too mechanical and dry for me. Another vastly underrated player was Emil Gilels. His Bach renditions on the EMI Great Pianists of the 20th Century discs are great.
 
#55 ·
I love my Schiff and Hewitt sets. But my favorite Bach on
piano is by Charles Rosen. very limited though.
 
#63 ·
This is a subject dear to my heart - favorite composer and genre. Being new to this board, I'd like to share my basic preferences. Harpsichord is my preferred instrument although I love many Bach recordings on modern piano. My primary reason for preferring the harpsichord is its sharper tone which allows for more detail in the counterpoint. Concerning the piano, I'm not a big fan of performers who tend to be pianistically subtle; this would apply some to Perahia and Hewitt.

Favorite recordings of some Bach solo keyboard works:

Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue - Kipnis (Arabesque).

French Overture - Suzuki (BIS), Rousset (Decca).

Goldberg Variations - Hantai (Mirare), Tureck (DG), Schiff (ECM), Gould (Sony - "81"), Rousset (Decca), Karl Richter (Teldec).

Well-Tempered Clavier - Tureck (DG), Schiff (ECM), Wilson (Teldec), Ross (Various labels), Gilbert (Archiv).

Partitas - Karl Richter (Teldec), Rousset (Decca), Sheppard (Romeo), Gilbert (Harmonia Mundi), Gould (Sony).

French Suites - Cates (Music & Arts), Curtis (Teldec), Cera (Arts).

Inventions/Sinfonias - van Asperen (Aeolus)

Art of Fugue - Gilbert (Archiv)

Special Mention - On fortepiano, Walter Riemer has recorded Art of Fugue and the Goldberg Variations. These are sparkling performances of great distinction.
 
#65 · (Edited)
This is a subject dear to my heart - favorite composer and genre. Being new to this board, I'd like to share my basic preferences. Harpsichord is my preferred instrument although I love many Bach recordings on modern piano. My primary reason for preferring the harpsichord is its sharper tone which allows for more detail in the counterpoint. Concerning the piano, I'm not a big fan of performers who tend to be pianistically subtle; this would apply some to Perahia and Hewitt.

Favorite recordings of some Bach solo keyboard works:

Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue - Kipnis (Arabesque).

French Overture - Suzuki (BIS), Rousset (Decca).

Goldberg Variations - Hantai (Mirare), Tureck (DG), Schiff (ECM), Gould (Sony - "81"), Rousset (Decca), Karl Richter (Teldec).

Well-Tempered Clavier - Tureck (DG), Schiff (ECM), Wilson (Teldec), Ross (Various labels), Gilbert (Archiv).

Partitas - Karl Richter (Teldec), Rousset (Decca), Sheppard (Romeo), Gilbert (Harmonia Mundi), Gould (Sony).

French Suites - Cates (Music & Arts), Curtis (Teldec), Cera (Arts).

Inventions/Sinfonias - van Asperen (Aeolus)

Art of Fugue - Gilbert (Archiv)

Special Mention - On fortepiano, Walter Riemer has recorded Art of Fugue and the Goldberg Variations. These are sparkling performances of great distinction.
I just want to ask you if you've heard some of my favourites, like Leonhardt's DHM Goldbergs and Verlet's Astrée Partitas.
 
#64 ·
While I agree with the implicit consensus on the thread that Bach himself was not a purist in terms of either performance or instrument, I do love the sound of the harpsichord for its delicacy and clarity. The architecture of the music becomes all the more crystalline when played on this instrument well. Plus, there is a virtue, though not a requirement, in working within constraints as a form of discipline inspiring creativity.

The piano as we know it now risks bloat, excess and monstrosity of sound, the harpsichord brings a halt to all that.
 
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