Bach - WTC I - Not yet

After recording these today, I was convinced I had the WTC I completed. When checking, found out I still need the B major pair to go. Rats. I was sure I had recorded that ! Seems like not. Ah well.

Bach - BWV 855 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E minor
Bach - BWV 858 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F sharp major
Bach - BWV 859 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor
Bach - BWV 860 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G major
Bach - BWV 866 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B flat major
Bach - BWV 867 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B flat minor
Bach - BWV 869 - Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier I - Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B minor

 

I cannot in word describe how impressed, even though you have one left, by your dedication and work to complete histories most famous cycle (must be right?). It must be a dream come true and I hope that one day, I will be able to do it as well.

855 is one of my absolute favorites in WTK and you played well, though a bit differently than I expected. Much faster for example. It must be very difficult to execute in this tempo. Now I will continue to listen to the other too.

 

WTC

Congratulations! What a task! I've listened to four of these so far. You did a magnificent job as usual. You continually amaze me with your knowledge, critical skills, and impressive interpretations in your music. As you well know, I'm no expert on Bach. The only thing that was unusual to me was the use of the pedal. I don't know if it was excessive or not. I guess it's a matter of opinion. I was never allowed to use any pedal with Bach when I was young. Now I add a little pedal occasionally, but I hear my old piano teacher turn over in her grave every time I do it. LOL Again, you deserve a huge pat on the back.

 

If only you could see me nodding my head to your accomplishment.

 

That was really good, I only listened to the B flat Major.
I think you should play the Fugue a little faster, and you should play it more detatched.
But congratulations!
I wish I could play all of them in memory.

 

Thanks guys. I am reasonably satisfied with these (except perhaps one or two of the preludes).

@ John - I am indeed a compulsive pedal pusher. I went through a spell of pedal-less Bach, which was enormously instructive and confronting. To play it smoothly without the help of the pedal is much harder indeed. Strangely, since taking lessons, I have become more liberal again with the pedal, as I think it sounds better. If you go as far as playing Bach on an instrument it was not written for, you might as well use the instrument's facilities. I believe I mostly manage to keep things clear despite pedal usage, but I would like to hear if that is not the case.

The cramped idea of pedal not being "allowed" in Bach is probably what makes playing Bach seem so daunting for many people, and the desiccated sound that often results may prevent many from enjoying the sumptuous beauty of the music. All the same, one should be able to play it satisfactorily without pedal, and I urge anybody to try and do that. It's like with rubato; first you must learn to play in time, and only then get liberal with rubato.

 

Bach pedals along

I'm gradually losing my "fear of pedaling" when playing Bach. I concur with your idea of taking full advantage of the capabilities of modern instruments when playing Baroque music on such instruments. I did not observed any blurring in your rendition of the BTW works. I was merely commenting on your use of the pedal which is still relatively new to me. I use the pedal very conservatively when playing Bach, but I plan to experiment with a more liberal approach. Perhaps playing Bach won't be so daunting to me then.

 

First, even if so often said - your ability to play and record that WTC P&Fs beside your giant other repertoire, is absolutely amazingly! I doubt that I could play WTC1 and 2 within the rest of my life, only to show you what's the difference.

So far I only listened to the following pieces (because I know them myself), and like to give some feedback. Maybe you appreciate it, even if it is critical.

E minor prelude and fugue: You start the prelude surprisingly fast, and I wondered how fast the presto part (usually played at double speed) will follow. It followed however not that fast, much slower. Personal taste, however you just hit the sustain pedal at those troublesome spots with both hands runs. That way it blurred. There were also some notes missing, in the prelude as well the fugue (about a hand full each). You play the fugue with very good hands coordination, much better as my take on it however.

G major prelude and fugue: For my opinion, you played the prelude with a speed over your top - I know you don't like to read that, but that's my opinion. Why that fast? The fugue is played very well in my opinion!

B sharp major prelude and fugue: The prelude is played very fast, and it sounds well to me beside some missing notes in the beginning. In the fugue you nicely starts with staccato articulation at the end of the fugue theme (with the 4 quarter notes repetition). However, those well recognizable notes were not good articulated later on or sometimes even missing in the themes at the end of the fugue.

B sharp minor prelude and fugue: You keep rhythm very well (as almost always, your rhythm sense is very well!), so the prelude sounds very meditative to me. Very well done! Could imagine some kind of dynamics however that show how you FEEL the beautiful masterpieces, both in that prelude and in the fugue (this pair means much to me), but that's personal taste. It sounds flawless to me!

Have not listened yet to the other recordings.

Beside those remarks, absolutely great achievement, those complete cycle recordings!

 

Thanks Olaf, good to see you back (I was starting to think you'd left us - 6 weeks holiday !? :shock: )
You are right as always in your criticism. Listening back to these I am not as pleased with them as before. I thought this time I'd prepared sufficiently, but once again not - certainly not these nasty preludes in e and G, and the fugue in e. These are ones that gave me great trouble. There seem to be more slips and missing notes than I thought there were. Need to slow down the recording process even further, and not let even the tiniest flaw pass through. Just keep reminding me :lol:

 

Hehe, not in a row - 6 weeks is the normal complete holiday per year we have in Germany (30 working days) - I was only 3 weeks on vacation now.

:lol: So - you feel that your recording process is already slow... Unbelievable, because your output is without comparision, that's for sure. Maybe my critical words sounded too harsh, but you recorded here already so much marvelous and flawless WTC items (beside so much others) that I am really sure it is sometimes only your own impatience but neither technical nor interpretation obstacles what leads you to record that fast.

 

Hmmm, yes.... right on the ball again. I am starting to believe that quantity and quality are mutually exclusive. I should be like Michelangeli, play only a dozen pieces but do them really well