Post by SnaggS September 4, 2012 (1 of 39)
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I was surprised to see this has no reviews. One of the best if not the best performances and a good recording wonderfully remastered.
The Piano sounded very natural and liquid, so I went to check the booklet... no surprises here, DSD mastering.
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SnaggS said:
I was surprised to see this has no reviews. One of the best if not the best performances and a good recording wonderfully remastered.
The Piano sounded very natural and liquid, so I went to check the booklet... no surprises here, DSD mastering.
Maybe it's the price?
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Post by Tehillim September 4, 2012 (3 of 39)
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I rather enjoy the Koroliov interpretations on CD, with not a clavichord to be heard.
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Post by Beagle September 5, 2012 (4 of 39)
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Euell Neverno said: Maybe it's the price?
Yes. Competitive with the Glenn Gould WTC. I am thinking carefully about both issues: Gould is 'interesting' -- perhaps over-thinking the music to the point of quirkiness -- but interesting enough to make other performances 'boring' by comparison.
It is difficult to decide how one wants monumental works like this or the Goldbergs; their very duration can easily exceed one's attention-span. I suspect the fault lies with us, with our ability to listen anytime, start to finish, 'biting off more than we can chew'. My wife and I sat through a splendid live performance of the Goldberg Variations two years ago, barely able to stay awake. The woman on the other side of my wife did fall asleep -- snoring against my wife.
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Post by Claude September 5, 2012 (5 of 39)
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Post by Ubertrout September 5, 2012 (7 of 39)
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Beagle said:
It is difficult to decide how one wants monumental works like this or the Goldbergs; their very duration can easily exceed one's attention-span. I suspect the fault lies with us, with our ability to listen anytime, start to finish, 'biting off more than we can chew'. My wife and I sat through a spendid Goldberg Variations two years ago, barely able to stay awake. The woman on the other side of my wife did fall asleep -- snoring against my wife.
One of my favorite Friedrich Gulda stories is, after playing a recital to shouts of "encore," he sat down and played an encore...the entire Goldberg Variations. (I recall reading this but can't find a source...another source online says it was Rudolf Serkin)
After all, the Goldberg variations were supposedly written as a salve to insomnia.
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Post by lennyw September 5, 2012 (8 of 39)
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I heard it was Rudolf Serkin too, but one also has the feeling these stories are apocryphal.
I saw Piotr Anderszewski on a very rainy evening at the Wigmore Hall, and he played the French Overture with repeats as an encore. We could hear the rain on the roof, and I guess he realised no one wanted to leave...wonderful concert.
The Richter WTC is, for me, the best on record. I don't agree with all his ideas (I feel the e-min from Book I could be with more feeling), but when one hears the c-min prelude, or the c#-min, e-min or b-min fugues, one realises that there couldn't be a better version. Gould's would come in second, and then of course, there's Feinberg...
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Post by Beagle September 5, 2012 (9 of 39)
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SVIATOSLAV RICHTER SAID...
WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER: "My recording of Part One is undoubtedly more successful than that of Part Two. In the second volume, it's the most significant preludes and fugues that have turned out the worst - those in E flat minor (No.8) , F sharp minor (No.14), and this weighs heavily on my conscience." (1972)* "Unlike Part One, which is fairly successful, this recording of Part Two is riddled with mistakes, above all - unfortunately - in the most important preludes and fugues, such as in F sharp minor and B flat minor." (1975)*
GOLDBERG VARIATIONS: "I've heard G.G. play in the concert hall, and have also listened to his recording. Some day I'd like to play it (the Goldberg Variations) myself - if ever I manage to master it." (1973)*
GLENN GOULD SAID...
WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER: "I have just this week finished Volume I of the W.T.C., thank goodness, and now I have little choice but to proceed onward into Book II." (1965)**
Gould regarded many of the preludes simply as "prosaically prefatory" (in other words, as a sort of compulsory exercise to which the performer has to submit before proceeding to the free section of the fugues).** --Michael Stegemann _________ * http://www.geocities.jp/imyfujita/wtcpage0021.html ** http://www.mymusicbase.ru/PPS1/sd_634.htm
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Post by Arthur September 5, 2012 (10 of 39)
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I've always liked these performances - I've owned them in at least a half-dozen different incarnations. But I have to agree with the All-Music critic, the sound was always horrible. If hi-res presentation can clean this up, we're really getting somewhere!
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