Samuil Feinberg’s magnificent Russian recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (taped 1958-61) commands a range of keyboard colour that at times compares to Rachmaninov. Accompanying voices either quietly murmur or boldly spring to the fore, faster preludes and fugues suggest an unstoppable rhythmic force, and the overall impression is of a great musician whose profound understanding of each separate piece allows for a wide range of tone perspectives. My knowledge of the cycle was based on two earlier transfers, by far the best from Russian Disc, with a sonically inferior set issued by Dante Lys as a poor alternative. Pristine Audio more approximates the Russian Disc option, though the quality isn’t entirely consistent from work to work (the preludes and fugues are separately tracked, by the way) and there’s a certain amount of added ambience. But for most of the time Bach and Feinberg are well enough served for the glories of the music and its performance to emerge unscathed. Just a handful of pointers might be of use. Feinberg is at his most disarmingly lyrical in the C sharp minor Prelude from Book 2 – also a good sampling of the expressive way he balances the right and left hands, stressing counter-melodies in the way that Horowitz might have done. In the E flat Prelude from the same book, Feinberg nudges the bass forwards while achieving marked crescendos and diminuendos. His ability to loosen the rhythmic frame without allowing the musical line to bend too far is beautifully exhibited by the D sharp minor Fugue – another case where colour is paramount. The D minor Prelude from Book 1 canters quietly into dynamic action, and the D sharp minor Prelude is played with the sort of intensity you’d expect in Bach’s Passion music. This is a wonderful ‘48’, no doubt about that – essential listening and fully on a par with such great vintage piano alternatives as Fischer, Richter, Loesser and Tureck.