Bach Goldberg Variations; Italian Concerto; Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue
Classic Bach performances from before the Second World War proving that the composer has always held powerful sway with the greatest musicians of the day
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 73
Mastering:
DDD
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567200-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Goldberg Variations |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Wanda Landowska, Harpsichord |
| Concerto in the Italian style, 'Italian Concerto' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Wanda Landowska, Harpsichord |
| Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Wanda Landowska, Harpsichord |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 69
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567210-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: D, BWV850 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| Concerto in the Italian style, 'Italian Concerto' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| (7) Toccatas, Movement: C minor, BWV911 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| (7) Toccatas, Movement: D, BWV912 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| (3) Concertos for Two Harpsichords and Strings, Movement: No. 2 in C, BWV1061 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Adrian Boult, Conductor Artur Schnabel, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Piano London Symphony Orchestra |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567201-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Concerto for Violin and Strings |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
George Enescu, Conductor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Paris Symphony Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| Concerto for 2 Violins and Strings |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
George Enescu, Violin Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Paris Symphony Orchestra Pierre Monteux, Conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 138
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567197-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV1001 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV1002 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV1003 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Sonata No. 3 in C, BWV1005 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV1006 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 127
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567203-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 1 in B minor, BWV1014 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 2 in A, BWV1015 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 3 in E, BWV1016 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 4 in C minor, BWV1017 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 5 in F minor, BWV1018 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
| (6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Movement: No. 6 in G, BWV1019 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Références
Magazine Review Date: 3/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 237
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 567214-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Edwin Fischer, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
Author: Nicholas Anderson
The 1930s were great years for recording Bach. Busch, Cortot and Boyd Neel with their respective orchestras performed all the Brandenburgs, Menuhin the unaccompanied violin music and violin concertos, Casals the Suites for unaccompanied cello, Landowska the Goldberg Variations, Italian Concerto and Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, Schnabel two of the keyboard Toccatas and the Concerto in C major (BWV1061), and Fischer the two books of The Well-tempered Clavier (the 48). I have a generous selection from these legendary performances in front of me now, newly and, in the main, very skilfully transferred and remastered from the original sound recordings.
One of the most enduring of my clutch is Wanda Landowska's Goldberg Variations, which she recorded in Paris in 1933 on a mighty Pleyel harpsichord, a veritable pachyderm of the species. Tempos and sound quality are two features of her performance least easy to come to terms with nowadays, but the nobility of her concept of the work is affecting, as is the supple strength of her playing. Many more recent interpretations leave a fainter print on the memory than this vibrant recording, full of poetry and personal sentiment.
Landowska's championship of the harpsichord in those far-off days was remarkable in itself. But it was sometimes at odds with her Romantic concept of Bach's music. No such problem afflicts Artur Schnabel's Bach playing on a modern piano. He and Landowska include the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and the Italian Concerto in their recitals from which fascinating comparisons may be drawn. Schnabel is altogether lighter than Landowska in his approach and more playful in his understanding of the music. For Schnabel these are unequivocably piano pieces and, hearing him play them, I felt in no way compromised by the knowledge of performing styles which we have acquired in decades subsequent to these tenderly expressive utterances. Schnabel is joined by his son Karl Ulrich for the C major Concerto for two keyboards, with the LSO under Boult. This is a lively affair, beautifully phrased, pulsating with energy, and lightly articulated. We may know more about Bach performance, nowadays, but we certainly do not always use that knowledge to as good an effect as that demonstrated by these intuitive and naturally expressive interpretations.
The recording by Yehudi Menuhin and brother-in-law Louis Kentner of Bach's six Sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord belongs to the early 1950s. The release, as Tully Potter remarks in a sympathetic accompanying note, was never issued complete in the UK, that is until now, when I for one am listening to it for the first time. I do not find Menuhin at his most engaging in this music. His tone, as in the fourth movement of the B minor Sonata, is hard and, apart from lyrically inspired slow movements, of which there are many, he seems curiously unsure about which style of playing best suits the music. Kentner often seems to have the greater interpretative grasp of the two, Menuhin seeming, by comparison, too reverential and expressively bland. An interesting filler is included of another earlier recording by Menuhin of the E major Sonata with Landowska.
Menuhin's 1930s recordings of the Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin come over much more persuasively. They have a stronger sense of purpose, a greater stylistic assurance and a more alluring tone than the Sonatas for violin and harpsichord. In a word, they sound more confident, suggesting a deeper involvement of the artist with his subject. These have long given pleasure to me and continue to do so.
I have a special affection for this recording of the A minor and D minor Violin Concertos since they were among my earliest encounters with Bach. Indeed the two 78s, on which the A minor Concerto was originally accommodated, were the most precious of all gifts on my 12th birthday. The partnership of Menuhin and his teacher Enescu in the D minor work is wonderfully intuitive, and the music-making spontaneous, vital and, in its own very special way, satisfying.
Lastly, and for me, the most miraculous of all these recordings, is Edwin Fischer's 48, technically fallible, often hugely unpredictable but conveying in almost every bar the poetry of the music. There is nothing of the showman in timeless performances which are free from intrusive mannerisms, mechanical rhythms and bland phrases. Textures are transparent, highlighting strands of fugue without a hint of over-emphasis or dogmatism. I am always deeply touched by this playing, by its humanity and an awesome modesty that's untainted by reverence. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Bach playing.'
One of the most enduring of my clutch is Wanda Landowska's Goldberg Variations, which she recorded in Paris in 1933 on a mighty Pleyel harpsichord, a veritable pachyderm of the species. Tempos and sound quality are two features of her performance least easy to come to terms with nowadays, but the nobility of her concept of the work is affecting, as is the supple strength of her playing. Many more recent interpretations leave a fainter print on the memory than this vibrant recording, full of poetry and personal sentiment.
Landowska's championship of the harpsichord in those far-off days was remarkable in itself. But it was sometimes at odds with her Romantic concept of Bach's music. No such problem afflicts Artur Schnabel's Bach playing on a modern piano. He and Landowska include the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and the Italian Concerto in their recitals from which fascinating comparisons may be drawn. Schnabel is altogether lighter than Landowska in his approach and more playful in his understanding of the music. For Schnabel these are unequivocably piano pieces and, hearing him play them, I felt in no way compromised by the knowledge of performing styles which we have acquired in decades subsequent to these tenderly expressive utterances. Schnabel is joined by his son Karl Ulrich for the C major Concerto for two keyboards, with the LSO under Boult. This is a lively affair, beautifully phrased, pulsating with energy, and lightly articulated. We may know more about Bach performance, nowadays, but we certainly do not always use that knowledge to as good an effect as that demonstrated by these intuitive and naturally expressive interpretations.
The recording by Yehudi Menuhin and brother-in-law Louis Kentner of Bach's six Sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord belongs to the early 1950s. The release, as Tully Potter remarks in a sympathetic accompanying note, was never issued complete in the UK, that is until now, when I for one am listening to it for the first time. I do not find Menuhin at his most engaging in this music. His tone, as in the fourth movement of the B minor Sonata, is hard and, apart from lyrically inspired slow movements, of which there are many, he seems curiously unsure about which style of playing best suits the music. Kentner often seems to have the greater interpretative grasp of the two, Menuhin seeming, by comparison, too reverential and expressively bland. An interesting filler is included of another earlier recording by Menuhin of the E major Sonata with Landowska.
Menuhin's 1930s recordings of the Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin come over much more persuasively. They have a stronger sense of purpose, a greater stylistic assurance and a more alluring tone than the Sonatas for violin and harpsichord. In a word, they sound more confident, suggesting a deeper involvement of the artist with his subject. These have long given pleasure to me and continue to do so.
I have a special affection for this recording of the A minor and D minor Violin Concertos since they were among my earliest encounters with Bach. Indeed the two 78s, on which the A minor Concerto was originally accommodated, were the most precious of all gifts on my 12th birthday. The partnership of Menuhin and his teacher Enescu in the D minor work is wonderfully intuitive, and the music-making spontaneous, vital and, in its own very special way, satisfying.
Lastly, and for me, the most miraculous of all these recordings, is Edwin Fischer's 48, technically fallible, often hugely unpredictable but conveying in almost every bar the poetry of the music. There is nothing of the showman in timeless performances which are free from intrusive mannerisms, mechanical rhythms and bland phrases. Textures are transparent, highlighting strands of fugue without a hint of over-emphasis or dogmatism. I am always deeply touched by this playing, by its humanity and an awesome modesty that's untainted by reverence. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Bach playing.'
Bach Goldberg Variations; Italian Concerto; Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue
Bach-Keyboard Works
Bach Violin Concertos
Bach Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas
Bach Violin Sonatas
Bach Wohltemperirte Klavier
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