Bach (and early keyboard music) on the Piano: thoughts

[Mattbod]

@brassbandmaestro Ross plays the harpsichord. Mikhail Pletnev has a good disc of selected Scarlatti Sonatas on the Virgin label.

[Mattbod]

@Vinteuill Each to their own but i find her playing inspiring and her booklet notes (see her recordings of the 48 for example) to be the height of erudition and scholarly comment and have helped me in my playing no end (sadly i have no access to a harpsichord: i was offered one free but had no space and would have had to have learned to tune it!)

[vinteuil]

@brassbandmaestro Ross plays the harpsichord. Mikhail Pletnev has a good disc of selected Scarlatti Sonatas on the Virgin label.

... the Pletnev is certainly interesting : but if you want Scarlatti on the piano, for me there are two exceptional performers -

Christian Zacharias

Vladimir Horowitz.

If you want to have a feeling of what a fortepiano account of Scarlatti, closer to the time he composed, might have sounded like, I commend a CD by Linda Nicholson on the capriccio label.

These are all great fun : but in the end I feel Scarlatti's music is clearly written with the harpsichord in mind - in terms of attack, brio, colour - so that any piano version is a bit of a lame imitation.



.

[vinteuil]

@Vinteuill Each to their own but i find her [Angela Hewitt's] playing inspiring

... well, each to his or her own, yes indeed - I just find her painful carefulness, exactitude, ultra-correctness - leads to a feeling of claustrophobic prissiness. Everything is "just so". Not what I want in any musician.

She reminds me of Anita Brookner .

Of course, some people like Anita Brookner...

[amateur51]

... well, each to his or her own, yes indeed - I just find her painful carefulness, exactitude, ultra-correctness - leads to a feeling of claustrophobic prissiness. Everything is "just so". Not what I want in any musician.

She reminds me of Anita Brookner .

Of course, some people like Anita Brookner...

She speaks well of you, vints

[Mattbod]

Hmmm interesting perspective on Angela. I have never found her playing mechanical at all.She has a great sense of rhythm (she is also a trained dancer) and her touch is sublime. I find Schiff is very precise (and dare I say it German) in his playing but not Angela Hewitt. Her playing is very much like Murray Perahia's in my opinion. Certainly with Bach there is a lot of mathematics involved but you can still use rubato (and different registers on the harpsichord) and vary your touch (on the piano) which Angela Hewett states that he does. I have never heard her live but people say her live shows are exceptional and very moving.

[BBMmk2]

I love playing Scarlatti on the piano. Like so many other composers of this time, it makes(for me),the music sound so much clearer.

[ardcarp]

I cannot abide Angela 'metronome' Hewitt.

Well, vinteuil, it just goes to show that one man's meat, etc! For me, Angela H is just perfection. I certainly don't like Bach messed about with too much (eg Richard Egarr on harpsichord) but Angela Hewitt's phrasing is very, very subtle, i.e. not laid on with a trowel. Furthermore her control of dynamics and touch is IMHO second to none. If you've ever seen her live, she casts an amazing spell over the audience. Do give her another chance!

[Bryn]

... I certainly don't like Bach messed about with too much (eg Richard Egarr on harpsichord) ...

Do pray tell more. In what way does Egarr "mess about" with Bach on the harpsichord?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

.... this thread led me to play Murray Perahia's version of the Partitas today, what a wonderful afternoon it was!

[Dave2002]

... the Pletnev is certainly interesting : but if you want Scarlatti on the piano, for me there are two exceptional performers -

Christian Zacharias

Vladimir Horowitz.

If you want to have a feeling of what a fortepiano account of Scarlatti, closer to the time he composed, might have sounded like, I commend a CD by Linda Nicholson on the capriccio label.

These are all great fun : but in the end I feel Scarlatti's music is clearly written with the harpsichord in mind - in terms of attack, brio, colour - so that any piano version is a bit of a lame imitation.

I agree with almost all of what you have written here, but I think there may be some evidence IIRC that some of Scarlatti's music was written with fortepiano in mind.

The Nicholson CD seems relatively difficult to find now http://classical.premieremusic.net/catalog/cd/CAP67112/ though I spotted one apparently new on eBay - not sure if it's a "one off" - http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SCARLATTI-SON...-/140947468901

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8zfbvCKHc8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlio87kgHU

PS: CDs may be difficult to find, but downloads or streaming are possible at various locations - eMusic, iTunes and Spotify all have a lot of Nicholson's recordings available including at least one CD of Scarlatti.

[ardcarp]

I've heard Egarr using what is IMHO too much rubato (that's the only word for it). I realise he is trying to be creative about phrasing, but I occasionally experience a sort of aural mal de mer. I acknowledge that he is a great musician with enormous talents, but again, one man's meat, etc

[amateur51]

.... this thread led me to play Murray Perahia's version of the Partitas today, what a wonderful afternoon it was!

[Bryn]

I've heard Egarr using what is IMHO too much rubato (that's the only word for it). I realise he is trying to be creative about phrasing, but I occasionally experience a sort of aural mal de mer. I acknowledge that he is a great musician with enormous talents, but again, one man's meat, etc

You had probably best stay away from Peter Hill's '48' on equal-tempered piano too, in that case. It may not thus strictly be "well-tempered, but for me it further confirms the validity of playing the '48' on such an instrument, Gilda having already set the ball in motion for my ears.

[Richard Barrett]

with Bach there is a lot of mathematics involved

What does that mean actually?