Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Daniel Barenboim
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 9029510538
Release: 2021
Size: 341 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846
01. Prelude
02. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 847
03. Prelude
04. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
05. Prelude
06. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
07. Prelude
08. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850
09. Prelude
10. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 851
11. Prelude
12. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E-Flat Major, BWV 852
13. Prelude
14. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853
15. Prelude
16. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 854
17. Prelude
18. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 10 in E Minor, BWV 855
19. Prelude
20. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 11 in F Major, BWV 856
21. Prelude
22. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor, BWV 857
23. Prelude
24. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858
25. Prelude
26. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859
27. Prelude
28. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G Major, BWV 860
29. Prelude
30. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 861
31. Prelude
32. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A-Flat Major, BWV 862
33. Prelude
34. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863
35. Prelude
36. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 19 in A Major, BWV 864
37. Prelude
38. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, BWV 865
39. Prelude
40. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 21 in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
41. Prelude
42. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 22 in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
43. Prelude
44. Fugue
Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B Major, BWV 868
45. Prelude
46. Fugue
47. Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 869: Prelude
48. Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in B Minor, BWV 869: 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.
It is always amazing that Bach’s keyboard music is robust enough to withstand so many interpretations and transcriptions. Here, the piano is not so far removed from the original keyboards of Bach’s time, but the interpretation by Daniel Barenboim of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, is slightly unusual. Most piano performances of this work fall into one of two schools: either they are played with gracefulness and little coloring, as if they were played on a harpsichord, or they are played with large amounts of color and several dynamic, emotional layers. Barenboim’s interpretation falls almost exactly in between those two extremes, but leans toward the more colorful side of the scale. He plays with grace or with stronger colors where he deems necessary, but never exaggerates. In some of the fugues and a few of the preludes, such as the Prelude and Fugue in B flat No. 21, he does use more pedal and contrasting dynamics as if to emulate the sonorities of an organ. In others, such as the well-worn Prelude No. 1 and the Prelude No. 2, he uses different touches, never playing the repeated rhythms the same way all through the piece and taking advantage of the contrast between legato and staccato, to create more musically interesting phrases within each piece. That alone refreshingly sets these apart from other performances, where those preludes are treated more like etudes with the object of making sure a particular technique is learned through strict repetition. Barenboim seems to look at each piece in the WTC not as a music exercise, but as a musical testimonial. The sound quality is very good throughout, making this a very respectable alternative to overly Romantic or more historically informed piano performances of WTC, Book 1.