Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Daniel Barenboim
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 9029510538
Release: 2021
Size: 485 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II
Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 870
01. Prelude
02. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 871
03. Prelude
04. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872
05. Prelude
06. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 873
07. Prelude
08. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 874
09. Prelude
10. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 875
11. Prelude
12. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 876
13. Prelude
14. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in D-Sharp Minor, BWV 877
15. Prelude
16. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 878
17. Prelude
18. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 879
19. Prelude
20. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 880
21. Prelude
22. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 881
23. Prelude
24. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 882
25. Prelude
26. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 883
27. Prelude
28. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 884
29. Prelude
30. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 885
31. Prelude
32. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 886
33. Prelude
34. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 887
35. Prelude
36. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 888
37. Prelude
38. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 889
39. Prelude
40. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 890
41. Prelude
42. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 891
43. Prelude
44. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 892
45. Prelude
46. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 893
47. Prelude
48. Fugue
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier is not only the sum of everything that has preceded it, it also points the way ahead.” Daniel Barenboim sees Bach’s encyclopaedic collection of 48 preludes and fugues, with its dual traversal of all 24 keys, as a work of pivotal importance and epic stature. His interpretation elicited a rapturous response from Gramophone magazine: “There is no sense of received wisdom, only a vital act of recreation that captures Bach’s masterpiece in all its first glory and magnitude; no simple-minded notions of period style or strict parameters but a moving sense of music of a timeless veracity.
With this recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Daniel Barenboim continues from where he left off with Book I. To him, each prelude and fugue is more than a mere exercise in counterpoint. Each becomes a Bach gem, with a specific musical shape. He starts right off by giving the “Prelude No. 1” a majestic opening chord, followed by a more subdued body that carries with it a reverence for that majesty. Barenboim uses the piano’s dynamic range and pedal colors judiciously, never exaggerating. The “Fugue No. 16” is grand, but not as grand as it would be on an organ, while the “Fugue No. 18” is as graceful as it would be on a harpsichord, and not too much more colored. In every fugue, each subject statement is discrete, but fits in with the other voices sensibly and purposefully. He makes the preludes more varied in sound, more like Bach’s orchestral or choral music, even while they stay within the confines of keyboard forms. Once again, Barenboim’s Bach is abundant with intelligent and thoroughly musical ideas.