May is a Well-Tempered Clavier kind of month.  BBC Classics has issued
Rosalyn Tureck's recording of Bach's Book 2 to go with her Book 1 that
was released a short number of months ago.  Recorded sound is much better
than for Tureck's recordings for Deutsche Grammophon from the 1950's.
The BBC performances are also more incisive, although I do miss some of
the warmth from the 1950's recordings.

Kenneth Gilbert's account of the complete Well Tempered Clavier has stood
tall for decades, although Harmonia Mundi has seen fit in recent years
to delete the set.  Now, Book 1 is available at mid-price, so quickly
get your own copy.

There's also a new WTC from Pierre Hantai on the Mirare label.  I've not
heard of this record company until now, but Hantai is well known as an
exceptional Bach harpsichordist.

As an aside, Nonesuch has released the 2nd disc from Richard Goode which
completes his readings of Bach's Partitas for Keyboard.  As some of you
might know, I'm not a big fan of Goode's Bach.  However, he must have
some avid followers in Albuquerque.  The local Borders started off with
about 7 copies on the shelf; in just two weeks, only one copy remains.
This must be a new record for a Bach disc in the Albuquerque area, and
I remain unconvinced.  There's much more to Bach than tasteful performances.

Here's another aside.  I'm essentially finished with my review of 22
versions of Schumann's Kreisleriana, and all that's left is to apply the
Satz Rating Model(SRM) to each performance.  To tell the truth, the SRM
isn't worth much - I usually deviate from its results.  It's probably
just a sign that I'm contrary with even my own creations.

Don Satz
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