CyberGene I’ve been listening to Angela Hewitt’s WTC in the last minutes
She's great! Not long ago I listened to a concert with her on YouTube from Wigmore hall in London where she played Bach, her playing is sublime. And she brought her Fazioli to that concert too and I agree that the clarity of the Fazioli is very suitable for Bach.
After one full listen to Hewitt’s WTC 1 (but not yet WTC 2), I find it a very well executed project with an emotional Bach, however I think there’s just a very tiny bit of exaggeration here and there. She’s just gone slightly over the top with the dynamic contrast. It’s not everywhere and is very minimal, so not a deal breaker but somehow Koroliov is more balanced and a middle ground between the ultra dry and emotionless Gould and the expressive Hewitt. I think that’s a nice variety of performances and I will listen to all of them depending on the mood I am in.
I can recommend this video series by EuroArts. It's four pianists that plays different preludes and fuges from WTC 1&2 and together they complete the whole circle. It's filmed in beautiful places around Europe and it's a very pleasant way to experience the music with four different but all fantastic pianists. I first watched it over 20 years ago when it was broadcasted on TV (I later bought it on DVD). The performing pianists are:
Andrei Gavrilov
Joanna McGregor
Nikolai Demidenko
Angela Hewitt
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBjoEdEVMABIhBJ4T0dIBu-jm3CzZQkY1&si=DsGrJ0rHaEgKQuAi
My favorite (by far) interpreter of Bach is Piotr Anderszewski. His last recording of WTC2 get high critical reviews, and his Bach is always fascinating. I can't stand Andras Schiff. He is like a beautiful machine. Everything is so perfect and even… so much that after a while everything sounds the same!
We all forget that using is to carry emotions and not IS NOT DEAD SET in traditions. Of course, playing Bach like Liszt would sound comic, so yes we have to be withing certain musical sense of style and knowledge.
But if anyone is telling me that there is no rubato in Bach, or be it baroque music, than one is simply uneducated fanatic. He should listen to a lot of harpsichord before saying that.
Bach is not a machine.
Thank you all for the recommendations! Listening to Anderszewski WTC2 - amazing so far.
Is it worth to get apple classical music over Spotify? I do think the Spotify search engine and way of organizing is not really optimized for classical music. And nowadays I listen to Classical >80% of the time. But maybe that's also a question for a new thread.
What about Zhu?
Here she plays, not too dry-not too wet; however, the room itself adds some interesting reverb, yet despite, I can hear some transparency in her playing that still brings out the independent nature of the voices whilst also coalescing with the bigger harmonic structure. The one thing I don’t like: she’s a “repeater,” and I believe the repetitions should be left for the practice room, but not for the performance hall. I heard you the first time, Zhu, so please, don’t repeat yourself:
https://youtu.be/3jGNgvz4GSQ?si=p_5gsL_8Ph-rnnSB
Note: Zhu uses “some” pedaling, but it is light & brisk, so as to not add too much “coloring,” especially in a room that already adds significant reverb(erations).
Pete14 I just listened to the aria and the first variations- Beautiful! And I think your description is spot on. I like the tempo and the articulations. She also does the ornamentation in the aria beautiful and sometimes a little different. Perhaps there is some hard handed accents in the left hand sometimes but overall very nice. But I don't agree about not having the repetitions (maybe the Count would not have fallen asleep without them).
johanibraaten nice. But I don't agree about not having the repetitions (maybe the Count would not have fallen asleep without them).
The ‘repetitions’ were meant to put the Count to sleep, and only if one intends for an entire audience to fall asleep, one should avoid them! 😁
Of course, you’ll always have some romantic dude claiming that the rep’s are there for a reason other than the one described above, but I know the composer intimately, and he, himself, is baffled by all the B.S. theories around taking the rep’s, “perhaps I should’ve made it clear that these are only meant as a sleeping aid,” he once said to me!
Of course, the most prominent B.S. theory is that the rep’s allow for the pianist to “say something different” the second time around, but the truth is that those taking the rep’s aren’t saying anything new, other than adding some ornaments, so you see, the real reason for some pianists to take the rep’s is more vague: to differentiate themselves from “the lazy” non-repeaters, like Glenn, who most certainly got the memo: “don’t take the repeats, I beg thee!”
I believe Glenn repeats a little section of “a” variation in his 1981 recording, but don’t quote me on that, for you see, as much as the experts claim the 1981 recording better, I’m still a sucker for the version that floored me: 1955!
That being said, Zhu is okay, and I forgive her for the rep’s; although I must say, I did feel a little sleepy towards the end…..😉
Does anyone have experience with the Gulda WTC recordings from the early 1970's? They were unusual in that the microphones were placed extremely close to the strings (on a Bösendorfer Imperial). I have only recently heard about these recordings, but not yet listened to them.
QuasiUnaFantasia Does anyone have experience with the Gulda WTC recordings from the early 1970's?
Was that released at one point on the Philips label? If so, I recall having that set back in the 90's. I remember it being quite dry and percussive, and rather fast at times. Worth a listen, though I can't say it was ever one of my favorites.
jdg78 Was that released at one point on the Philips label?
Possibly. I don't really know. It seems to be on a small label today "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald":
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/das-wohltemperierte-klavier/hnum/7070596?lang=en
Another WTC I've always loved - particularly if you are in the mood for a slightly softer-edged, contemplative interpretation - is Edward Aldwell on Nonesuch:
Here's another set I've long admired, though the pianist is not well known:
QuasiUnaFantasia Possibly. I don't really know. It seems to be on a small label today "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald":
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/das-wohltemperierte-klavier/hnum/7070596?lang=en
Yes, that appears to be a remastering of the same 70's recordings that were originally release on Philips.
Pete14 but I know the composer intimately, and he, himself, is baffled by all the B.S. theories around taking the rep’s, “perhaps I should’ve made it clear that these are only meant as a sleeping aid,” he once said to me!
😊
Pete14 What about Zhu?
Wow. Thank you for the reference and I confess my ignorance: never listened to Zhu Xiao-Mei before today. It became a favorite Goldberg, together with Gould, Jean Rondeau, Beatrice Rana… Btw, any one listened to Lang Lang Goldberg's? The first bars of the aria start beautifully, but then things get interesting…
I am in awe with Zhu Xiao-Mei. Had a quick youtube listen of a few snippets and the Art of the Fugue is monumental! Partitas, inventions, french suites, you name it, they are all wonderful. I will buy them all.
On the other hand, what I have listened of her Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert, does not move me at all. Bizarre. Again, @Pete14 : thank you for taking me out of my ignorance…
There’s no shortage of good Goldberg variations. I have many favorites. BTW, I like the late recording of Gould and hate the early one. Shows that the guy got calmer and wiser with the age. It’s a pity he didn’t re-record the other Bach works 😀
Of the more recent recordings of the Goldberg variations I think Vikingur Ólafssons is interesting. It's a quite sober and sometimes (too?) high tempi. But overall a very nice interpretation. He played it in my home city this vinter but unfortunately I missed it.
CyberGene BTW, I like the late recording of Gould and hate the early one.
+1
CyberGene like the late recording of Gould and hate the early one. Shows that the guy got calmer and wiser with the age…
Oh, come on, CG!
This is like saying you hate early Brando, “let’s face it, I coulda been a contender,” and prefer late -fat- Brando (The Island of Dr. Moreau), for you see, early Brando/Gould might’ve been a little rough around the edges, but also full of energy, bravura, passion, and testosterone-fueled balls; whereas, the late was paranoid, a little crazy, and thinking only one thing upon recording: show me the money! 😁