Bach-Feinberg Prelude and Fugue in E minor "The Great" BWV 548

[furtwaengler]

Here is something you may not hear everyday - my little portion of an annual 6 hour Bach concert, I'm sharing my passion for Samuil Feinberg as well as for J.S. Bach. The piece is a beast, but honestly I had a worse time with my nerves and mastering myself. Being away from the stage for so long, I forget the mental piece must be practiced and mastered as well as the notes. I stumbled off the stage and almost went careening down a set of stairs. It is audible at the end. 

[lelle]

Well played! Great energy.

I was familiar with the Liszt transcription but have not seen this one before, it looks possibly even more difficult. It's interesting to see the differences in how Feinberg tackled the work compared to Liszt. How do you feel the two compare?

[furtwaengler]

I'm bumping this for andhow.

And I never answered Lelle's question. The Feinberg transcription is quite a bit more complex than the Liszt. It's strange though how rarely the Liszt transcriptions are played, other than the A minor and G minor which are very often played. Michel Block recorded them all at an expansive tempo. So expansive he could be in other recordings, he did a 15 minute Chopin Barcarolle which is really beautiful and effective. 

Same super shiny piano, but different (better) shirt:





The shiny was a wee bit disorienting.

[andhow04]

wow, superb arrangement and superb performance, this must have been very difficultto put together. many passages are worthy of busoni in their ingenuity.. i'm glad you play this so well, i don't need to ever study the score ! lol ! i always enjoyed this unusual fugue with the recap at the end, and that wild middle section that trips up many organists. this was a pleasure to listen to