Juozas Rimas wrote:

>Could you express your opinion of his inventions?

I think they consititute a masterful body of short pieces, and I don't
find any of them purely "academic" or without inspiration.  Juozas has
been listening to Gould, and I think that even major Gould fans would
agree that one should not finalize an opinion of a Bach work based on
one interpretation.

Try the Schiff version on Decca; it's his best Bach in my opinion.  Serkin
on RCA might even be better; I've been "pigging out" on his recording in
recent weeks.

I don't think there's been any discussion on the list as to which Bach
keyboard works are his best - or your favorite.  Although I love the
Inventions, I do prefer by a small margin the Partitas, WTC, Chromatic
Fantasy & Fugue, and Art of Fugue (my favorite).  I had recently raved
about Joanna MacGregor's Art of Fugue on Collins.  My basic opinion has
not changed, but with further hearings I do sense a "gloss" which appears
to me as intentional.  I can't deny she hits my buttons perfectly.

Don Satz
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