Prelude & Fugue in B flat major - The Prelude is a very long and happy
piece which sways gracefully throughout. It does need some energy in
performance for the music has a playful and youthful atmosphere, although
it can be performed in a more graceful/stately manner. Nikolayeva,
although competent, is too soft-focused, dour, and addicted to short
slow-downs which damage the music's flow. Fischer plays better but it
seems that all the sound problems in the set descend on this prelude and
greatly impact my enjoyment. Gould, Schiff, Roberts, Jando, and Hewitt
are very good versions; they are playful, energetic, and possess excellent
flow. Although it's a 7 minute piece, Gould is finished in well under 3
minutes because he's very fast and refuses to repeat. He's definitely not
the man for a whole night of romance. But, he is very musical and his fast
speed is infectious.
Aldwell, Gulda, Tureck, and Schepkin are exceptional. Aldwell is graceful
and stately in a dream-like atmosphere. Schepkin's version is lovely and
incisive. Gulda has a great flow to the music and is emotionally strong.
Tureck has the best build-ups to the climaxes in addition to perfect
accenting.
The Fugue in B flat major is "feel good" music in the form of a minuet.
Timings are very well distributed. The slower versions (Roberts,
Nikolayeva, and Tureck) are in the 3 minute range. The fast versions
(Gould, Gulda, and Schiff) are about 2 minutes in length. The others
are in the 2'30' range. Given that the music is naturally stately and
expresses happiness and even a satisfaction with the world, the faster
versions are at a disadvantage. Gould and Gulda display limited
expressiveness; Gulda is particularly mechanical. However, Schiff manages
ample expressiveness in a fine reading. Among the slower versions,
Nikolayeva delivers a soft-grained performance which is lovely but a little
melancholy. In the moderate paced category, Hewitt, Aldwell, and Fischer
give fine performances; Aldwell would have been excellent except for an
overly romanticized account. The exceptional versions are Jando, Schepkin,
Roberts, and Tureck. Jando has infectious pacing, a superb urgency, and a
delectable bass line. Schepkin's is the most beautiful version. Roberts
gives a "brilliant" and slow reading with fantastic three-voice separation.
Tureck conveys to me a perfect peace in the universe, a satisfaction that
only maturity can realize.
Prelude & Fugue in B flat minor - Aldwell describes this prelude very
WELl - "A prelude of grave beauty, the texture that of a trio sonata
all three lines of which are of equal elegance and intricacy, long and
flowing". All the versions treated the music's beauty and long lines well
enough; four stand out - Jando, Aldwell, Hewitt, and Nikolayeva. Jando has
excellent pacing and a fine sense of urgency without the lose of poetry.
Aldwell employs a very attractive slow pace in a lovely reading. Hewitt
and Nikolayeva are superb. Hewitt presses all the right buttons with
sensational accenting and part-playing; her version really tells the
listener how much variety there is in the music. Nikolayeva delivers a
"sad" reading which works wonderfully for the prelude and avoids any sense
of stagnation; this version possesses the greatest emotional impact.
The Fugue in B flat minor is one of Bach's greatest WTC achievements.
Aldwell considers it "monumental", and I second that view. The stretti and
inversions are masterful, and the music expresses a wide range of themes
and emotions. Tension is crucial to the music as is a lyricism and beauty
of the highest order. All the versions are rewarding. Roberts is on the
superficial side but highly enjoyable while driving. Gulda is a little low
on expressiveness, but his 7 minute reading holds up well. Gould takes
just a little over 3 minutes and also holds up well, and is also low on
expressiveness. The best versions are Fischer, Nikolayeva, and Jando.
Fischer provides all the tension I could want and his lyricism in the
softer passages is superb; unfortunately, the last minute entails quite a
lot of key banging in poor sound. Nikolayeva's not at the top level for
tension, but her version is the most beautiful and tender. Jando's display
of urgency in the music is exceptional, although his poetry is not
outstanding. None of the versions delivers everything wanted, but Fischer,
Nikolayeva, and Jando get closer than the others.
Prelude & Fugue in B major - With the Prelude, Bach brings us back to
joy and happiness with a quick pace generated by a fairly simple bass
line and "dancing" right hand. Gulda plays it fast, and although I find
it enjoyable, there isn't sufficient breadth or joy. Tureck provides
everything Gulda lacks; although just a little slower than Gulda, Tureck
stretches out the music to reveal its beauty and boundless joy. She
particularly does an outstanding job in highlighting the stunning staccato
approach; her reading is very special. Hewitt, at Gulda's level, provides
a good reading; however, her performance is based on momentum and she is
too soft-focused at times to carry it off. Schepkin has plenty of momentum
and a speed even faster than Gulda; Schepkin suffers from events passing by
with little notice. Jando is as fast as Gulda, but Jando's performance is
very exciting with a delectable pace; he's not at Tureck's level but just
a step behind. Schiff delivers a relatively "demure" performance which
doesn't begin to reach the heart of the music. Fischer is no better as he
has times when he sounds like a young child banging on the keys; the bass
line is given poor sound. Aldwell's reading is quite slow and starts off
poetically; however, he then exhibits annoying mannerisms and an
inappropriate sense of humor. Roberts is as slow as Aldwell and gives a
fine reading although he has the tendency to disrupt the music's flow
through short pauses and slight shifts of tempo. Although faster than
Roberts, Nikolayeva also displays some bad traits; she does poorly with
the staccato, and her performance is disjointed, showing no seamlessness.
Gould is fast and gives a good performance with sufficient joy and
excitement. In conclusion, I don't see significant reason to listen to
any versions other than Jando and Tureck; Tureck's reading is revelatory
and Jando provides the speed and excitement.
The Fugue in B major is a four-voice work of nobility and stature;
although it starts out with each of the four voices entering in ascending
order with a great sense of serenity and repose, there is much stately
drama and turbulence later on. Timings range from 2 to about 4 minutes.
Gould, at 2 minutes, has no time or inclination for serenity or nobility.
The problem is that I was left feeling that he didn't replace those
traits with any of his own making other than creating a caricature. I
suppose that Roberts is easier to enjoy than Gould, but he still gives a
superficial performance. Schiff, Fischer, Nikolayeva, Schepkin, Aldwell,
and Gulda give fine performances. Fischer's sound has an upheavel toward
the conclusion, and Gulda starts off powerful, diluting the contrast later
to come. Jando, Tureck, and Hewitt are excellent. Jando's reading is
rather quick, displays great momentum, and uses irresistable pacing.
Tureck, quite slow, provides a model for the piece. Hewitt, using a
moderate pace, delivers a wide range of themes in a beautiful setting.
Prelude & Fugue in B minor - The Prelude, although having significant
tenderness and lyricism, revolves around agitation, foreboding, fear,
and their eventual realization. Bach excellently uses syncopation and
suspension to elicit these themes from me. Of the four fast versions,
three are uneventful (Gould, Schiff, Hewitt). Fischer is slower, but his
playing is a little willful in bad sound. I found the other versions
equally rewarding including a fast version from Schepkin. He shows the
other three quick pianists how to provide ample expression at a fast pace.
Tureck states that the Fugue in B minor is of good humor and charm, but
her version has only moderate charm and I detected no humor. I didn't hear
humor in any of the versions, but I did hear a lot of joy from Hewitt and
Schepkin, and great tenderness from Nikolayeva. From reading all the liner
notes, I never would have thought that any "dark" themes are in the music,
but they are there and strong. There's a menacing and perverse element
that runs throughout the piece, and most of the versions do not try to hide
it. Only Fischer and Gould are below standards; both are rather unmusical
at times, and Gould's fast speed kills off most of the themes.
Nikolayeva's performance is my favorite for its wonderfully tender
interpretation. The remaining versions are fine with Tureck, Gulda,
and Jando emphasizing the darkness of the music.
Using the highly touted Satz rating model, here's the order of preference:
1. By a very wide margin, Tureck's set is the best. In half of the
preludes and fugues, nobody was better than Tureck. I consider that a very
impressive statistic considering there are 11 versions. Tureck is slow
paced, displays excellent tension and outstanding angularity, digs deeply
into Bach's music, is very poetic, tender, and lyrical, and so on and so
on. Her's is a magnificent achievement. There are two considerations that
stop me from recommending this set to "everyone". First, the sound is
early 1950's and not great for that time period either; it's better than
Fischer's, but that's not saying much. Second, you can't get speed and its
excitement from Tureck. So, if you love the speed of the WTC and must have
excellent sound, Tureck should be avoided. Everyone else should consider
Tureck a must-buy at any cost.
2(Tie). I consider Aldwell and Gulda antidotes to one another. Aldwell
is smooth, seamless, slow, and rich with an acoustic to match. Gulda is
powerful, precise, generally fast, and detailed with an acoustic to match.
Within their respective interpretive boundaries, both pianists are
excellent and deliver the goods. Both sets are sort of specialist in
nature; your general preferences in this repertoire will tell you which
direction to go toward. For me, they are both must-buys.
4. I'm surprised to relate that Nikolayeva occupies the fourth
position. My memories of her set were not very good, but this recent
examination shows I was wrong. Nikolayeva tends to be slow-paced, very
thoughtful/tender/lyrical, and she has fine recorded sound. Many of the
pianists dropped-off in quality in the second half of Book II; Nikolyaeva
just got better as she went along. Hers is not a must-buy set, but I do
strongly recommend it.
5(Tie). Here's where we find Hewitt and Schepkin. Hewitt's is a fine
mainstream version. She's not particularly fast or slow, highly emotional
or devoid of feeling, etc. With a good recorded sound, I can safely
recommend Hewitt's set as an all-around version for those who only intend
to have one recording of the WTC. Schepkin is not as mainstream in his
conceptions as Hewitt; his extremes of tempo and characterization are
stronger as well. Still, Schepkin is also a good choice for the
one-version buyer who would get a fine cross-section of Bach's musical
variety.
7. Jando does very well, and he doesn't fall off in the second half of the
set. He emphasizes the urgency of Bach's music deliciously, and I always
feel that he's trying his best to get to the heart of the music. This
would be a fine purchase at premium price; at the Naxos price, it's a
fantastic purchase for anyone on a tight budget.
8. Gould this low? Yes, I rechecked the figures and all is well. Gould's
problem is that he tends to self-destruct in the second half of the set
with extremely fast tempos that go nowhere. What happened to his ample
poetry, tenderness, and ability to dive right into the center of the music?
I have no idea; I just report the results. But this set is not a waste of
money by a long shot. Gould delivers some revelatory performances that
can't be found elsewhere.
9. Schiff's set is actually quite good. With little exception, he eschews
the mannerisms he displayed in the Goldberg Variations and provides good
up-standing performances. But he can't deliver excellent interpretations
on a consistent basis.
10. I feel badly placing Fischer so low, but the competition is tough and
Fischer has to deal with some bad sound. He also is rather unmusical at
times, going into his own idiom. The reason I feel badly is that Fischer
is a master at providing the tension in Bach's music. When the sound and
Fischer are behaving well, nobody gives better performances; it just
doesn't happen often enough.
11. Drumroll Please! Here is Roberts, all alone in the cellar. Poor
sound? No, Roberts has the best sound among the versions. Unmusical
interpretations? No, he's always musical and enjoyable. Crazy tempos? No,
his tempos are within reasonable boundaries. Robert's condition is that
he usually skims the surface of the music, and his is the only version in
that category. But there is an up-side. I'm finding his set great for
listening in my car or while doing other things. He sounds excellent and
highly enjoyable as long as you are not digging deeply into the music.
Roberts didn't do that either. This could be Motor Trend's Classical
Recording of the Year.
Next I'm going to do something with Chopin's Piano Concertos (like listen
to them). That's a big jump from Bach, but it's still fantastic keyboard
music. And don't believe that stuff you hear about Chopin's poor
orchestrations. I wouldn't love these two works if the orchestrations did
not "contribute" greatly to my listening enjoyment. I'll see you Romantics
later.
Don Satz
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