The Keyboard Music of Bach

Re: Well-tempered car radio

Originally posted by bat
I have been listening to the Jarrett WTC2 in my car and I still firmly believe that it is better than the competition, without having heard them. Why is everyone calling me stupid - I don't understand what they mean.
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You are joking, right? How can you say A is bigger than B if you only know the size of A?
Originally posted by bat

Jarrett does have a peculiar manner of phrasing which could be called jazzy. He does it on purpose, he likes it that way.

I wonder would Gilbert sound as good in my car since it is an older recording?
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Gilbert's WTC is sung rather than jazzy. So if you like Jarrett that much I doubt if you'll like Gilbert. Regarding sound, Gilbert's harpsichord is much more beautifulk than Jarrett's.

Perhaps you could try the Koopman version or the Leonhardt one. The latter is rather deeper than Jarrett; the former may appeal to you because of the very steronlgy rhythmicl approach.

Keep an open mind. The WTC can withstand almost all treatments, and the 2nd book, in particular, is so strong that I never heard anyone capable of really spoiling it!
 
I only listened to a samll bit of Rannou's. But Rousset seemed far superior.

I don't much like to quote from reviews, but reading the French ones, I had the feeling they praised Rannou only because they hadn't listened to Rousset's earlier. They almost said they were mistaken when they gave top honours to Rannou.
 
Re: dAnglebert

Originally posted by TDA1540
Hi RdS,

I use the edition by Gilbert(le Pupitre,Heugel).
I am attempting to play some transcriptions of works by Lully, because these pieces are firmly embedded in my neurons (the Harmonia mundi cd was one of my first discs)
Even with my very limited keyboardskills I like the results allthough my stile brisee is somewhat more broken than is bearable for the accidental listener.

The Gilbert edition comes in two volumes.Volume one contains the four suites,part two has the transcriptions and pieces for organ.

M.
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Hi, Martijn:

Le Pupitre, of course. But I didn't know Gilbert had edited d'Anglebert.

One's own version is always better than the others'. Playing a piece of music is so different from listening to it that I really wonder if I really know the music I don't play!

Thank you for the information and have a good time with d'Anglebert. Have you tried the 'Tombeau'?

R.
 
WTC and Keith Jarrett

RdS

I admire your tolerance of BAT and his blind preference for the Keith Jarrett WTC II.

I am a big jazz fan, and an even bigger KJ fan, and my first ever recording of the WTC (Book I on piano) was by him. Despite my devotion to KJ's music, I never got into his WTC.

Now, as you know, through your recommendations, I've got into lots of versions of the WTC, and they all eclipse KJ, and that's despite the fact that all my recent acquisitions are CD versions, which aren't a patch (sonically!) on the vinyl version I have of KJ's WTC. (But perhaps we'd better not open up the CD vs. LP debate on this thread!)
 
Well-tempered bat soup

I came up with the following theory:
An inferior performance forces the listener to concentrate on the music - not the performance. This is why we should pay more attention to the worst records around.

Hmm... maybe my theory is not fully convincing.

I have Leonhardt's 1973 English suites. They could be better, so I'm not very interested in his WTC.

Has anyone listened to Malcolm Hamilton's WTC ? There are good samples at

http://www.baroquecds.com/7114Web.html
 
Bat:

I listened to Hamilton's Book 1 fminor and book 2 a minor excerpts.

the very poignant and yet intense f minor is horrible: elephantesque and totally without flow. I suppose you like it because you posted the link, but, tio be totally honest, I don't know how you can like both Jarrett's and Hamilton's versions.

the a minor is better, but the harpsichord is a monster: harsh, too bright, nothing to do with the historical models one can really attribute to Bach's circle.

That said, the page you directed us to is a very bad one. It is full of musicological mistakes, and almost all the recordings they recommend are awfully boring.

Do yourself a service and borrow Gilbert's or Leonhardt's version.
 
Re: WTC and Keith Jarrett

Originally posted by Johnny Blue
RdS

I admire your tolerance of BAT and his blind preference for the Keith Jarrett WTC II.

I am a big jazz fan, and an even bigger KJ fan, and my first ever recording of the WTC (Book I on piano) was by him. Despite my devotion to KJ's music, I never got into his WTC.

Now, as you know, through your recommendations, I've got into lots of versions of the WTC, and they all eclipse KJ, and that's despite the fact that all my recent acquisitions are CD versions, which aren't a patch (sonically!) on the vinyl version I have of KJ's WTC. (But perhaps we'd better not open up the CD vs. LP debate on this thread!)
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Johnny:

No debate on vynil-CD here, I hope. I am not a jazz fan, even though I sometimes like certain performances. And I did like some of the Jarrett records - the Köln one is especially good.

But, as you said, not on Bach - I mean, that approach doesn't work well with Bach, and most of the musical flow is lost.

Let's try to persuade Bat to listen to other versions. :)
 
OK, point taken. I will try to develop my taste. Sorry for the bad link. I will now retire to my cave for a few weeks.
 
Hello all.

People who know music, or are just plain interested, can find a thourough analysis of a Bach fugue here .

If you don't understand it, do not be put off. It just gives you an inkling of the complexity of Bach's writing technique.

Discuss?
 
Fugue Analysis

RdS

Thanks for the link: I got lost after about 3 pages, but it's nonetheless fascinating! And it's led me to a whole lot more interesting websites as well...
 
I own the complete Malcolm Hamilton WCl 1-2. You have not missed anything at all. He mimics the recording of Wanda Landowska in detail, with ponderous registrations .His harpsichord is a disaster. Very unauthentic and intolerably jingling, even worse than Walchas Ammerharpsichord, and the playing is not at all informed. The recording all to close.
Forget all about him.
Cheers
 
Malcolm Hamilton WTC rules! It is the greatest ever, no wait - Keith Jarrett version is even better!
 
Hmm... Nobody seems to agree...
Btw, Edward Parmentier's WTC1 will be released in late October.
 
bat said:
Hmm... Nobody seems to agree...
Btw, Edward Parmentier's WTC1 will be released in late October.
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On the contrary, everybody seems to agree that Hamilton's version is horrible. :)

Link to Parmentier's, please, if possible?
 
I am not a jazz fan, even though I sometimes like certain performances. ..... But, as you said, not on Bach - I mean, that approach doesn't work well with Bach, and most of the musical flow is lost.
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Has anyone mentioned Jacques Lousier yet. He does a nice WTC C major.

;) :JOEL:
 
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bach's french suites

Hi guys,

Rousset's English Suites was a superb recording. I liked his partitas very much but his new recording shows his growth and maturity as a solo harpsichordist. He has just recorded, on the same label, Bach's French Suites. There have been a few outstanding releases of this set of suites recently (Blandine Verlet and David Cates come to mind). Is Rousset's set as good or even better?

Cheers.
 

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