Customer Reviews

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This magnificent performance must be considered the definitive Bach for our time. The independence of the individual voices is simply breathtaking. Gould plays each voice with its own sound--as many as four simultaneously. In the more complex fugues, the pianism is unique. Fischer, Richter, and Kocsis can stand in the wings. They use tons of pedal, which only serves to blur the individual voices. But, even when they are able to accomplish the fingerwork reasonably well, they can only produce contrapuntal effects that may be technically adequate, but are unable to even begin to approach Gould's singular ability to give each voice a sound of its own, while playing the voices against each other. What more can one say? Listen, and marvel. The likes of this level of playing will not be heard again in our lifetime. If you like this, get Gould's Italian Concerto by Bach, and you will be speechless.

I highly recommend this CD. It is breathlessly moving and a joy to listen to. It is simply one of the best I have ever heard.

This is Bach as music, not an academic exercise. Glenn Gould reveals the passion in this music. It will always be a mystery as to how anyone cannot love Mr. Gould's interpretation of Bach's music. He loved this music and that shows in his playing. Bach was not a middle class burgher, but a rebel in his time who quietly accepted nothing. His love of life and his struggle to maintain his dignity are in his music and Mr. Gould's interpretation of it will never be matched.

Gould's interpretation of Bach's music is well-known and there's no exeption with this album. I have two versions of Well-Tempered Clavier, one is played by Sviatoslav Richter, and the other by Gould. Frankly, Richter's version is great, too. Maybe I will call Richter's version fantastic and Gould's version colourful. If you really enjoy WTC, be sure to collect both great pianist's versions.

Gould plays theses pieces with incredible insight and with an astonishing virtuosity. Contrapuntal voices never blurr nor melt confusely as it often happen, and the whole work appears more moving et stimultating then the mere sum of exercices it, in fact, is. I have recordings of the work by Horzowski and by Feltsmans. Both are great but my preference goes to Gould, for the hypnotic effect he often achieve, like no other.

Gould mastered the Well-Tempered Clavier at a very early age, and in this recording, he plays with an incredible ease, aptly diging out the nuances and undertones these scores virtually contain. His playing is bursting in passions AND in intellectual intensity - one does not exclude the other as some might think a priori. Most fugues litterally put the well tempered listener in a trance-like state. Let's hope the "offended virgins" (vierges offensées) who had scorn Gould's playing because of his "eccentricity", are mere fading away echos of an insular, hidebounded epoch.

My first review of these discs was quite negative, but I changed my mind about Gould's WTC after some new listening. I first thought this recording was extremely bad and mechanic, but I learned to appreciate it over the time. It is still not my first-choice WTC (that honor goes to Sviatoslav Richter). I would surely recommend it though. Yes, there is really some bad stuff inside, especially the preludes in C major and C minor, but at least Gould brings some freshness to this music. The other preludes and fugues also contain a liveliness that no other WTC set has. Gould clearly loves the music. But I still found it somewhat too eccentric to make it my top recommendation. Richter delves more deeply into the real meaning of the notes, while Gould is sometimes too much a showman. An interesting one, though.

I found some of Gould's interpretations contraversial. The first prelude is choppy and staccato which didn't sit well with me. One of my favorite preludes, number 5 in D major, was played with a heavy thudding style which belies the light and lively spirit of the song. All of this makes sense when you read the CDs liner notes where Gould considers many of the preludes as mere apetizers to the fugal main courses. That pissed me off. If you're going to half-ass many of these pieces why bother to record them?

However, what I do love about Gould is the exciting rhythmic clarity he can bring. He was kind of a nympho when it came to fugues. You can even hear him moaning and groaning when certain fugues excited him. It's all a very erotic listening experience.

This may be marvelous Gould, but it's terrible Bach. The only reason this deserves 2 stars is because of the admittedly superlative pianism. Beware, however, as these performances will reveal something of Gould but very little of Bach. Bach's genius lies buried beneath Gould's musicological artificialities. Once again, David Hurwitz is pushing his own personal agenda. Do NOT purchase these discs unless you already own several sets of the 48 and want a truly unorthodox view that belies the intent of the music. After staying away from Gould's interpretations of Bach's major keyboard works for some years, I recently decided to revisit them. Unfortunately, my impression of Gould's interpretations hasn't improved over the years. As mentioned, there is some incredible pianism on these CDs, and Gould's insights are occasionally striking. Nonetheless, the eccentricities and musical anomalies are too numerous and prohibitively distracting. What's more, the plaintive vocalizing is annoying, to say the least. This may be a must for Gould fans, but not for the rest of us. If you want something truly legendary in this repertoire, buy Edwin Fischer's classic recordings from the 30s. Or, if you want digital sound, Angela Hewitt's performances are beyond reproach. Or, better yet, you can't go wrong with Rosalyn Tureck. Gould may have been a great musician, at least according to some, but his perversions of composers' intentions will forever besmirch his legacy. Two very big thumbs down!!!

A decent rendition. Gould comes across as being rather dry. Although her massive Pleyel was somewhat of a chimera, Wanda Landowska's conception of Bach remains superior.