Bach WTC II

[ramseytheii]

Looking for a good recording of a prelude & fugue from WTC II,  g#-minor.  I have the Vladimir Feltsman, which I find pretty terrible, and the Gould, which is fascinating to me as all his others but a bit personal.  Any recommendations?  Or perhaps someone could post a recording, or lead me to where I can find one.
Thanks
!
Walter Ramsey

[bernhard]

These I like:

Rosalyn Tureck
Angela Hewitt
Richard Goode

These I don´t like, but they make for very interesting listening:

Glenn Gould
Sviatoslav Richter
Andras Schiff
Edwin Fischer

Then on harpsichord: Gary Cooper

And finally on clavichord (the instrument for which theey wer arguablçy intended): Ralph Kirkpatrick.

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[quasimodo]

Ivo Janssen

[ramseytheii]

What do you make of this fugue?  Busoni marked in his edition to play it tutto legato, and in a meditative fashion.  Feltsman however (as much as I just plain dislike his recording) treats it as sort of a full-stop harpsichord gigue.  Gould's character is more to my taste, though there are varied articulations in the subject, that disappear the deeper one listens into the fugue.  By the end it seems sempre legato.  It's very interesting. 

A constant legato may lead to a certain monotony, but then again, applying these articulations may seem frivolous and irreverent.  What are your thoughts?

Walter Ramsey

[mephisto]

These I like:

Rosalyn Tureck
Angela Hewitt
Richard Goode

These I don´t like, but they make for very interesting listening:

Glenn Gould
Sviatoslav Richter
Andras Schiff
Edwin Fischer

Then on harpsichord: Gary Cooper

And finally on clavichord (the instrument for which theey wer arguablçy intended): Ralph Kirkpatrick.

Best wishes,
Bernhard

Have you heard Samuil Feinberg? He was the 2nd person to record the complete WTC.

[iumonito]

Have you heard Samuil Feinberg? He was the 2nd person to record the complete WTC.

Really?  I thought his recording was from the late 50's; later than Landowska's and E. Fisher's, and perhaps the first of Walcha's.  No?  I don't know, you may be right.  Or maybe is the second on the piano.

[mephisto]

Really?  I thought his recording was from the late 50's; later than Landowska's and E. Fisher's, and perhaps the first of Walcha's.  No?  I don't know, you may be right.  Or maybe is the second on the piano.

I`ve only read it, so i may be wrong. It said that he was the 2nd and that Fischer was the first. Yes, possibly they ment 2nd on PIANO. The Landowska version is on harpsichord or something like that right(cembalo etc)?

[kreso]

My favorutie is Rosaly Tureck and Sviatoslav Richter, althaught Glenn Gould is interesting...

[faustsaccomplice]

spam

[pianote]

can't go wrong with Tureck

[pianistimo]

wonder what pogorelich would do?

what did bach say himself about the prelude and fugue.  i will attempt to look right now.  sometimes history gives hints as to the intentions. 

[pianistimo]

this is all i found so far:

bradley leighman writes (2004):
'the B major prelude and the g# minor prelude and fugue were obviously written specifically at the clavichord (not harpsichord or desk) as they have physical puns in them on the way fretted clavichords handle multiple notes on a single string! the way to know this is to play them on fretted clavichord and see what bach forces the fingers and the instrument to do; hold a tied note while playing another different note on the same string, which only works in exactly the configuration bach lays out in the music.  bach has carefully worked around this situation, showing how it is negotiable.'

i'm not sure i understand this fully and would have to try it out on the clavichord.  once you hear how it sounds, though - perhaps it would give some insight as to how to play it.  maybe more legato sounding? and perhaps pianostreets version isn't wrong (to play the forte and then piano dynamic right afterwards?)  was it like a pedal note?  i'm a little confused.

[ramseytheii]

Though the website was down earlier, I downloaded this prelude & fugue from www.karadar.com, which has a whole library of mp3s that are either in public domain or bootlegged from some concert.  It's not all piano but much piano on there.  You can download the entire WTC I, II with Wanda Landowska, but it will take you a long time.

Walter Ramsey