Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Edwin Fischer
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8110653-54
Release: 2000
Size: 200 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2
CD 01
01. Prelude
02. Fugue
03. Prelude
04. Fugue
05. Prelude
06. Fugue
07. Prelude
08. Fugue
09. Prelude
10. Fugue
11. Prelude
12. Fugue
13. Prelude
14. Fugue
15. Prelude
16. Fugue
17. Prelude
18. Fugue
19. Prelude
20. Fugue
21. Prelude
22. Fugue
23. Prelude
24. Fugue
CD 02
01. Prelude
02. Fugue
03. Prelude
04. Fugue
05. Prelude
06. Fugue
07. Prelude
08. Fugue
09. Prelude
10. Fugue
11. Prelude
12. Fugue
13. Prelude
14. Fugue
15. Prelude
16. Fugue
17. Prelude
18. Fugue
19. Prelude
20. Fugue
21. Prelude
22. Fugue
23. Prelude
24. Fugue
Edwin Fischer’s recording of the ’48’ was the first by a pianist of the set, and probably remains the finest of all.
Fischer might have agreed with András Schiff that Bach is the ‘most romantic of all composers’, for his superfine musicianship seems to live and breathe in another world. His sonority is as ravishing as it’s apt, never beautiful for its own sake, and graced with a pedal technique so subtle that it results in a light and shade, a subdued sparkle or pointed sense of repartee that eludes lesser artists. No matter what complexity Bach throws at him, Fischer resolves it with a disarming poise and limpidity. All this is a far cry from, say, Glenn Gould’s egotism in the ’48’. Fischer showed a deep humility before great art, making the singling out of one or another of his performances an impertinence.
In Book 2, you could hardly imagine a more seraphic utterance in No 3, later contrasted with the most skittish allegro reply. He possessed a touch with ‘the strength and softness of a lion’s velvet paw’, and there are few recordings from which today’s generation of pianists could learn so much; could absorb his way of transforming a supposedly learned tome into a fountain of limitless magic and resource. Here he is, then, at his most sublimely poised and unruffled, at bargain price in beautifully restored sound.