I was messing about in the garage checking my wifes car yesterday afternoon when I happened to turn the ignition on and the radio was tuned to Classic FM. Bach F minor (no 14) P & F from Book 2 of 'WTC' had just started. (Probably the easiest Prelude after Book 1 No 1). I hadnt heard who the performer was.
It was awful, a very steady tempo, and rubatos/tenuto effects everywhere. Almost 'pseudo romantic' I thought 'how can this be a professional performance? And who the devil is it'. The fugue was also at a rather sedate pace, and each time the main subject entered it was grossly exaggerated, almost 'sforzando'. Certainly not contrapuntal. I cannot image what mark it would get in say a Grade 8 exam. Though of course the notes were completely accurate, and the clarity was good.
I was absolutely flabbergasted when I found it was no less than Daniel Barenboim !
Now one of the first old vinyl LP's I ever bought was a recital by Danny, and just that one Bach P & F is on it, played quite differently and much closer to my personal taste, and what I thought was correct interpretation. I dont know when that later recording was made, but God help us if Bach's to be played like that!
I guess performers must change their views on interpretation over the years, and there must be lots of examples of this, but this really was an extreme case !

[quote name='fsharpminor' date='Jan 15 2007, 11:14 AM' post='449012']
I was messing about in the garage checking my wifes car yesterday afternoon when I happened to turn the ignition on and the radio was tuned to Classic FM. Bach F minor (no 14) P & F from Book 2 of 'WTC' had just started. (Probably the easiest Prelude after Book 1 No 1). I hadnt heard who the performer was.
It was awful, a very steady tempo, and rubatos/tenuto effects everywhere. Almost 'pseudo romantic' I thought 'how can this be a professional performance? And who the devil is it'. The fugue was also at a rather sedate pace, and each time the main subject entered it was grossly exaggerated, almost 'sforzando'. Certainly not contrapuntal. I cannot image what mark it would get in say a Grade 8 exam. Though of course the notes were completely accurate, and the clarity was good.
I was absolutely flabbergasted when I found it was no less than Daniel Barenboim !
Now one of the first old vinyl LP's I ever bought was a recital by Danny, and just that one Bach P & F is on it, played quite differently and much closer to my personal taste, and what I thought was correct interpretation. I dont know when that later recording was made, but God help us if Bach's to be played like that!
I guess performers must change their views on interpretation over the years, and there must be lots of examples of this, but this really was an extreme case !


Sorry I meant to post this under Viva Piano !

It doesn't matter where you post if - it promises to be an interesting thread, and I was quite excited to see it, as I'd love to know more about what other people think about interpretation of Bach myself. I guess professionals (as in wanting to make money) will sometimes go with the flow with regard to current trends, since they may not want to be described as 'old hat'. I do often wonder how much examiners will consider 'current trends' in their marking of Bach in exams. With any Bach that I've played for ALCM and recitals I've tended to 'err' on the staccato side of average for fast movements, but I was surprised to hear the latest TG CD, on which everything seems very legato. Still in strict time, mind, but I found it very dull to listen to - completely lacking in vitality. There was no sense of forward movement in the music, and no particular accentuation of the important notes in the right parts on the approach to cadences. One of my favourite Bach pianists, incidentally, is/was Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Thanks for that Dulciana, I am obviously of the same mind as you, I use staccato a lot in Bach
but I havent changed over the years - I did Book 1 No 11 (F Major) for ALCM in 1963, with quite a bit of staccato in the quavers, and in the first five notes of the fugue. I still play it the same way, aslo for example the quaver parts of Book 2 No 2 prelude.
Oddly though my Grade 8 report the following year , this time on the organ, said, I could learn more about use of staccato and semi staccato ! But its not really the same on an organ. I played BWV 545.

I read somewhere that playing too staccato on the organ was 'rather undignified', which I thought was a novel way of putting it!

so is climbing on and off the organ stool if you're not wearing trousers -
sorry, back to OP ! I quite like Bach played fairly crisp - although it depends of course on the piece.

[/quote]
so is climbing on and off the organ stool if you're not wearing trousers -

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I had my first organ lesson at age 13 from a lady in her late twenties, and it was the miniskirt era.!
To this day I am not sure if she was trying to teach me something else!

fsharpminor, I was listening to classicfm yesterday too and I was wondering who was playing this P&F so dreadfully and at a tempo which I thought was too slow and therefore losing the character of the work. I was horrified when Daniel Barenboim's name was announced at the end!

I have never been a fan of Barenboim's playing but this particular interpretation was dreadful.

Angela Hewitt's recording, however, hits the spot!

I heard one of the Barenboim interpretations last year on CD Review on Radio 3 and disliked it intensly. The presenter said that he felt that listeners' opinions would vary widely about this particular collection.

I, too am a fan of Angela Hewitt.

Thanks for your support! . But as I said in my starting post, he didnt used to play it that way !

He should have stuck to his previous style of playing!

Sorry to get off topic here, but has anyone heard Angela Hewitt's non-Bach recordings? What do you think, for example, about her recent Ravel recordings?

I quite liked her Ravel on the whole, though in the the Gaspard, I would have liked more intensity and dynamics.

I have her recording of the Chopin Noctures but admittedly, I didn't like it that much - I still prefer Pires' recording on DG.

Oh dear! I can feel a bout of spending coming on...

Haven't heard the Ravel, but now you've mentioned it, it just has to go on my wish list. I already have Pascal Roge playing the complete solo piano works, so I'm resisting buying any more Ravel. It's so tempting.

I cant imagine anyone upstaging Roge on Ravel or Poulenc. Anyway were off thread, I started it as Bach !

Its Tatti Nikolyeva for me on the '48' though I have the Naxos recordings by Jeno Jando, and theyre pretty good at the budget price.

Overall I really like Hewitts Ravel - solo piano music, she manages to keep it so light and shimmery! However, I think some things she takes a bit too fast (particularly Jeux D'eau), I know Ravel's music is supposed to flow etc but if it's a gorgeous bit surely you can linger a bit so the listener can also absorb it?

My CD of Bach 48 is by Ashkenazy. I was pleasingly surprised at some of them and got disappointed by others... so I came to the conclusion that I just play the way I like myself!! For a long time, my fav was Rosalyn Turruck LPs... (show my age! )

I tend to agree with fsharpeminor that Pascal Roge's Poulenc and Ravel are wonderful...

What do people think of Brendel playing Bach? I can't quite make up my mind, though he's one of my favourite pianists. I remember hearing that he didn't play Bach for a long time because he didn't think he was good enough!

I cant recall ever hearing Brendel play Bach. But he's darn good at Mozart Schubert and Liszt!

I like Gavrilov on the Bach Goldberg Variations. Jeez aren't some of them nigh impossible to play at correct speed.

I have a very old recording of Glenn Gould playing the 48 and although he must have been a sound engineer's nightmare he does manage to sort out all of the voices in the fugues so beautifully. For several reasons I can appreciate this recording but I doubt that it would be at the top of any one else's list.

Wow! Went to the first recital of Angela Hewitt playing the 48 last night! Absolutely brilliant!!!

Well, I will get lambasted for sure for what I am about to say, but I am not surprised.

Barenboim obviously has both amazing ability and dedication. Anyone that can play the entire cyle of Beethoven's sonatas (from memory of course) at age 12 has something going for them. He is a renowened Beethoven exponent. He gives master classes in how to play. He can justify all his decisions. His speed, dexterity, and control are fabulous.

Even so, I think he mangles Beethoven! I cannot bear to listen to his interpretations.

In Bristol? I wanted to go, but left it too late to get tickets. I'll have to go along to her performance of Book II.

I am interested in the effect of CD reissues of recordings that were originally on vinyl - 78rpms or LPs. I wonder if you could find out the details of the CD recording that you heard on Classic FM. It was not necessarily a new recording by DB directly on to CD. It would be very revealing to find out if the CD was in fact a poor reissue of the good interpretation on the vinyl version. Recent studies for my MA considered the difference between an original recorded performance and a 'performance' by the record producer in attempts to 'improve' the original by digital means. I was quite shocked to discover that original performances are literally taken apart and put back together again in the studio (the original pianist might not be present) with changes in balance, tone and articulation - to achieve modern 'clarity' and 'perfection'.

If anyone has got the CD played on Classic FM it should tell you in the booklet or on the back in tiny writing the original source of the recording. Many old EMI recordings were made in the Abbey Rd studios in the 50s and 60s - perhaps 70s - not sure.

I would say this would very much depend on the acoustics in the building and the organ.

I saw her play Book I there a year or two back. Wonderful - it's a gorgeous venue. I bought her Chopin CD and got her to sign it. I think she makes a good fist of them, maybe a little restrained.

But what about Martha Argerich playing Bach? She's my favourite Ravel player, but she plays the English Suite No 2 and Partita No 2 wonderfully. By some margin my top pianist. For Chopin, I love Ivan Moravec.

Edward

I've got the 6 CD set of Barenboim playing the Mozart piano concertos. He does a quite respectable job, but I agree with F#, Barenboim's interpretation of Bach is not for me and does rather sound like Bach in the style of Mozart and I don't think it is Baroquish at all. Hewitt on the other hand is faultless and I have her CD of the Couperin transcriptions,...quite sublime!

For me the best interpreter of Bach was Glenn Gould. It was said that when Gould played Bach he became Bach. , but even his style changed dramatically over his short life span. He slowed down quite significantly in his later years.

If you do, see you there! You enjoying studying at Bristol Uni?

Angela was very nice and she signed a few CDs sleeves that I brought along and got a photo taken with her too (even though she had to rush to catch the train after the recital)!

........how did you know I was studying at Bristol uni?? But anyway yes I am thanks, I love my course (most days) and I like Bristol too.

*scurries off to book Angela Hewitt performance at St George's*

Didn't you know I was a psychic?




(...I think you mentioned it in a previous post)