The Well-Tempered Clavier.

[MickyD]

I am baffled by the Eggar recommendations............I found him to be utterly intolerable. Far too much pushing and pulling at the tempo for my liking. I felt as if I was being tripped up every few bars. A pity (for me) because the sound is so gorgeous. On the odd occasions when I fancy a harpsichord, I go for Kenneth Gilbert, who lets the music flow in a way I like.

I'm with you regarding Gilbert...lovely playing. I'm disappointed to hear about the Egarr...I haven't bought it yet but I love all his other recordings. And yes, he enjoys a beautiful recorded sound from Harmonia Mundi.

[waldo]

I'm with you regarding Gilbert...lovely playing. I'm disappointed to hear about the Egarr...I haven't bought it yet but I love all his other recordings. And yes, he enjoys a beautiful recorded sound from Harmonia Mundi.

Well, there's a good chance you will like Egarr's WTC then. I just couldn't get used to the stop-start nature of his playing. He rattles through a dozen quavers, then hangs for an extra second on the thirteenth, then we're off again........I may well be something peculiar to harpsichord playing - or at least it may well be something that is seen most purely there. My piano teacher was always encouraging me to listen to harpsichord recordings so I could understand how you can use rhythmic variation instead of relying on the "easy" dynamic range of the piano.

But its all very personal. I love Arrau's Beethoven, but I can quite see how his little hesitations and pauses would drive others mad.

[Pianorak]

Wouldn't want to be without Sviatoslav Richter, but would also recommend Andras Schiff and Edwin Fischer. Three very different interpretations. Pity about the poor recording quality of the Fischer; a brief excerpt on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpyBcSAxqdQ

[Bryn]

Not this again........Doesn't it get boring?

Yes again. While the 48 can indeed be played on the percussive pianoforte, it was written with the plucked harpsichord in mind. Bach was reported to be unhappy with the early percussive stringed keyboard instrument he encountered. I am happy to have various recordings in which the pianoforte is used, a particular favourite being that by Friedrich Gulda. However, playing the 48 on a piano should be considered as a supplement to performances using a harpsichord, surely?.

[waldo]

Yes again. While the 48 can indeed be played on the percussive pianoforte, it was written with the plucked harpsichord in mind. Bach was reported to be unhappy with the early percussive stringed keyboard instrument he encountered. I am happy to have various recordings in which the pianoforte is used, a particular favourite being that by Friedrich Gulda. However, playing the 48 on a piano should be considered as a supplement to performances using a harpsichord, surely?.

You just have to accept that many people think differently about this issue. The arguments are not straightforward. Many of us prefer Bach on the piano and we don't feel we have to say seven Hail Marys when the pleasure is over.

I am not dismissing your position or your interest in this, I just don't know how many times we can all flog the same dead horse. Not on every thread, anyway.

[Keraulophone]

Peter Hill, academic and virtuoso pianist, has recorded a very sane traversal of the 48 for Delphian Records. He is perhaps best known for his recording of the complete piano works of Olivier Messiaen. The part-writing is clearly delineated and Hill avoids extremes of tempo which some better-known names indulge in.

Book II, which was recorded first, is reviewed here by Robert Matthew-Walker:

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=10060

[Bryn]

Peter Hill, academic and virtuoso pianist, has recorded a very sane traversal of the 48 for Delphian Records. He is perhaps best known for his recording of the complete piano works of Olivier Messiaen. The part-writing is clearly delineated and Hill avoids extremes of tempo which some better-known names indulge in.

Book II, which was recorded first, is reviewed here by Robert Matthew-Walker:
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_co...w.php?id=10060

Mea culpa, I had quite forgotten that I got Peter Hill's 48 as they were released. However, due to so much else being issued around the same times, I still have not listened to the whole set. I must dig the discs out and listen over the next few days, though I think I will give the Peter Watchorn recordings a spin first. Like Egarr, Watchorn used Bradley Lehmann's tuning system derived from Bach's squiggles Indeed he was the first to record the 48 using that tuning system. Watchorn used three different instruments (two harpsichords and a pedal harpsichord) built in the late 20th Century and based on historical models.

[Barbirollians]

I do have one piano version...Jeno Jando on Naxos, and I like it a lot.

[ardcarp]

For piano, you can't get much better than Angela Hewitt on Hyperion. If I could only have one version, that would be it - though, as with other towering masterpieces, no one intrepretation is really enough. She has recorded it twice; not much between them except the latter has more rubato and is a bit more "expressive". On balance, I prefer the earlier recording (still modern, excellent sound), but that's probably because that is what I am used to. Anyway, you can listen to long excerpts on the Hyperion site.

Absolutely agree. I too prefer her earlier recording of the 48, and I don't think it's just because I am used to it. I find the phrasing a tad more subtle.

[BBMmk2]

Angela Hewitt, yes, but I can't remember which P & F it was, quite early on in Book 1, IIRR, she clipped a note too short, which put me off entirely that recording.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes again. While the 48 can indeed be played on the percussive pianoforte, it was written with the plucked harpsichord in mind. Bach was reported to be unhappy with the early percussive stringed keyboard instrument he encountered. I am happy to have various recordings in which the pianoforte is used, a particular favourite being that by Friedrich Gulda. However, playing the 48 on a piano should be considered as a supplement to performances using a harpsichord, surely?.

I thought he preferred the clavichord. Not exactly plucked, and more expressive than the harpsichord.

[waldo]

Angela Hewitt, yes, but I can't remember which P & F it was, quite early on in Book 1, IIRR, she clipped a note too short, which put me off entirely that recording.

You have high standards, Bbm. You don't like Mozart and Hewitt gets binned for one clipped note. I'd hate to bring you a cup of coffee at the wrong temperature.

Seriously, though, you might want to go back to Hewitt. She is not a clipper, in general, and usually plays the music with exceptional fidelity and an almost complete lack of mannerisms. If she did it, it was probably there in the music - unless she was exaggerating a dotted rhythm, as many do in baroque dance pieces.

[doversoul1]

I thought he preferred the clavichord. Not exactly plucked, and more expressive than the harpsichord.

I have Ralph Kirkpatrick playing clavichord.

[MickyD]

If I remember correctly, Colin Tilney made a set for Hyperion using the clavichord, harpsichord - and was it organ as well? I never heard it, did anyone else?

[waldo]

Clavichord book 1, Harpsichord book 2. You can listen to lengthy excerpts on the Hyperion site..........To my ears, the clavichord sounds like a harpsichord, if a bit less resplendent.