Juozas Rimas wrote:

>All the Bach's records I could sink my teeth into are by Gould and Casals.
>I guess there's little point in searching for better records of the 1st
>suite for cello but what about klavier works? Are there any other Bach
>performers besides Gould that are considered "that good"?

For my money, Andras Schiff is the best modern Bach performer.  He
plays with great clarity, feeling and virtuosity.  There are great
perfomances by Gilels(French Suite, Fugue in D), Michaelangeli(Busoni
chaconne transcription from Violin partita in D) and Horowitz but they
didn't record much Bach.  Tureck is another great Bach performer especially
her stuff from the 50's.  She is probably the one who is most faithful to
the original score and markings and reveals the most about the structure
of the works.  Charles Rosen's Art of the Fugue is very good too.

I like Gould too in some composers.  I like his Bach but his recordings of
the late romantics are the most special.  His Scriabin sonatas-- pieces and
Berg sonata, Schoenberg and Strauss are definitive.  Gould also recorded a
lot of music of composers who are usually considered parlor dillettantes
like Byrd and Sweelinck.  Stay away from his Mozart, Chopin and Brahms.
Gould was really out to show how lousy he thought these composers were and
just how bad someone could play them.  His Beethoven is OK especially the
106.

Sam Pawlett