So much Bach, where do I start?
Likes:
up tempo,
percussive/choppy
different voices simultainously playing different melodic lines,
modern recording,
virtuosity (duh)
Dislikes:
harpsicords,
organs (from what little I've heard...no percussive faculty)
quiet music (for the moment)
I've been researching some with Napster and for soloists I like really like Casalas and Segovia, but the recording quality is kind of distracting to me. I also quite like the Double Violin Conerto Viviance (even despite the harpsicord ;) it's the only non-solo music I've found so far) and the piano Fugue stuff.
So, any particular CDs to check out? I need something to compliment my first good stereo system!
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I'll put in a plug for Christopher Herrick's Bach organ works cycle on Hyperion, well-recorded for the most part and well registered and played. I had the pleasure of meeting Christopher (he stayed at my home for a few days during an AGO workshop and concert at my church a few years ago), and found him to be a lot of fun but also a very serious musician, particularly with respect to his interpretations of Bach. The next summer I got to hear him play a number of concerts when he played all of the Bach organ works over a two-plus week period at Lincoln Center, quite a feat. Aside from his ability to master the technical demands of Bach's music, I find his taste in registrations to be excellent. As a good example of his playing, I'd recommend his Hyperion recording of the Bach Trio Sonatas, a reverberant and perhaps slightly bright recording which conveys the beauty and intricacy of those pieces, one of my favorite Bach organ discs. |
Piano: English Suites, French Suites, Sonatas and Partitas, Well-Tempered Clavier, Art of the Fugue, 2 and 3 Part Inventions, Notebooks of Anna Magdalena Bach. Glenn Gould is idiosyncratic but great, Angela Hewitt a great contemporary Bach interpreter. Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Itzhak Perlman, Hillary Hahn among contemporary artists. Solo Cello Suites, Yo-Yo Ma. Violin Concertos, Oboe Concertos. Chorale, Motets, in addition to what others have named. |
If you don't like harpsichord AND organ, that does not leave a lot of Bach, maybe the 'cello suites, However, I strongly suggest to stay away from modern interpretations, say replacing harpsichord with piano on Brandenburgs. That is a crime against Bach. Rather look for Historically Informed Performance Practice [HIPP] recordings. Notice for instance that Bach himself listed vibrato as an ORNAMENT of rank 13, not a constant sauce. (see also David Byrne's discussion in How Music Works on the origins of vibrato sauce to camouflage poor playing or recordings). Period orchestras such as Tafelmusik may be a good bet. Also look for musicians using instruments set-up in period accurate form: string instruments with gut strings, low bridge, proper neck angle; natural trumpet, a' = 415 Hz, etc. The richness of gut strings cannot be reproduced with modern synthetic core material. I know that from experience playing on gut. That also removes the tendency for uncontrolled hand shaking (aka vibrato) that is properly replaced by messa di voce (easy to do with baroque bow), or on repeat with some other ornamentation (trill, turn, run, arpeggio, cadenza ...). However, from your description of what you like, I wonder whether Bach, if properly performed, is what you are looking for. Mass in B minor is a heavy hitter, but particularly without organ (= church music in large venues) leaves da camera = chamber music for small venues, which by its nature has more finesse and less oomph. For up-tempo large repertoire, try Vivaldi. For more quirky tonalities and cord progressions, possibly try Bach's predecessor Biber (Mystery/Rosary Sonatas, Harmonia Artificiosa). That of course also mostly with harpsichord and organ. Tartini's Devil's Sonatas for solo violin may be up your alley. Good luck exploring new music! It's a lot of fun. If you like canon forms and harmonies, you may want to look at renaissance viola da gamba consorts. Barthélemy de Caix is wonderfully upbeat and light (Vivaldi on gamba); "Harmonice Musices Odhecaton" performed by Fretworks is another one of my favorites. |
I’ll add a bit to @slf’s post a bit. I also enjoy Bach’s works on piano. To slf’s list, I would add the Goldberg Variations, for which there are many excellent recordings. Murray Perahia’s is outstanding, as are his other Bach recordings. I also greatly enjoy Jeremy Denker’s recordings of the Goldbergs and of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Sitkovetsky’s arrangement of the Goldbergs for strings is wonderful. I agree with slf about Jennifer Hewitt being an outstanding Bach interpreter. Similarly, there are many fine interpretations of the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin on both classical and baroque violins. I’ve enjoyed Nathan Milstein’s set. The Chaconne from Partita #2 is most famous (and is my favorite piece of music). There are a great many outstanding performances of it. Here is a youtube a 1978 live performance of the entire Partita by Itzhak Perlman in London. The Chaconne begins at 13:50. Not the best audio, of course, but most importantly he takes me from hope to despair and back to hope every time I listen to it. https://youtu.be/qtyTaE7LvVs?si=SD0ELag8iDu4q_jI Hilary Hahn’s performance when she was 19(!) is a close second. Have fun!. |
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