180 Gram 5LP Box Set! Analogue Remastering (AAA)!
Analog lacquer cutting directly from the Original Master Tapes!
In Friedrich Gulda’s recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier two significant events in the history of Western music meet. One of these is this exceptional recording. It originates in the years of 1972/73, the high and endpoint of the collaboration between the Austrian pianist and the sound-sorcerer from Villingen, Germany, Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. Since 1969, Gulda had been using the Black Forest studio’s state-of-the art technical capabilities for the recording of the music cycles of Beethoven, Debussy, and Mozart, as well as his own work. A Steinway Grand Imperial was hauled into the MPS studio especially for Gulda’s use. You can still see the marks left from where the instrument had been precisely placed to the millimeter so that the piano’s sonority could be optimally captured. All of this is what makes Gulda’s interpretations so bold and meaningful to this day. The optimal microphone placements on the piano strings reduces the distance between Bach’s work and the audience, allowing the listener to physically experience the music. The Steinway sounds out in full stereo; its extreme dynamics creates a wide emotional spectrum, ranging from delicate intimacy to unbridled extroversion. The other epic event is the work itself: although it may be taken for granted today, Johann Sebastian Bach created a cycle of works played through all 24 major and minor keys that, with its development of equally tempered tuning, was a quantum spring forward. At the same time, Bach underlined the cosmic dimension of his creation by intentionally leaving open the choice of which “clavier” the piece should be played on (at that time, Clavichord, Cembalo and organ). Independent of the mechanics, this underscores the divine substance of his music. Gulda died in 2000.
This 5lP Box Set release of the Gulda recordings celebrates the anniversary of the pianist’s 85th birthday. It especially takes into account the encounter between two geniuses; this is a direct copy from the master tape, the first time since the seventies that the true tonal color of the original has been produced, without any “corrections” of the dynamics. In this edition of 5 LP box set, the listener finds the original accompanying material, with labels, booklets, and Gulda’s comments, as well as new texts from Gulda confidant Thomas Knapp and the current sound engineer Thorsten Wyk. Finally, the listener can once again experience Gulda’s Bach the way Gulda had conceived it – as eruptive as that timeless meeting of spirit and emotion over 250 years ago.
Features:
• True to the original configuration
• Records in original edition style of MPS
• Adaptation of the original LP box
• Including the original LP booklet
• Vinyl labels modeled from the originals
• 180 gram Virgin Vinyl
• Analog lacquer cutting directly from the Original Master Tapes
• Faithfulness to the original recording
• 12" x 12" 20-Page Booklet
• Analogue Remastering (AAA)!
Selections:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well Tempered Clavier)
Preludes and Fugues (Gesamtausgabe BMV 846-869, 870-893)
"An important aspect of these recording sessions is that the microphone was positioned above the piano, “directly over the strings, giving the recordings a very direct sound, low in resonance.” There is indeed no relaxing bath of acoustic bloom in this recording, and as a result the playing can at times sound almost confrontational. One of Gulda’s interpretative ideas was to “bring out on a modern concert piano the harpsichord, clavichord or organ character of the individual pieces.” Trying to identify which might be which is a game you can play with yourself or friends, but there is no handy listing guide so arguments may remain inconclusive. In any case, Gulda is happy at times to soften the sound using the
una corda pedal, which approaches the gentler clavichord. A staccato touch can suggest harpsichord, with at times quite a French feel. Dynamic differences between pieces can be considerable, so we’re kept awake or, if driving, twiddling the volume knob.
The piano sound is bright – just short of being ‘hard’, but while this is not the usual perspective it is one to which you can easily become accustomed.
Gulda’s technique is very much the strength of this Bach, by which I mean we’re usually as aware of Gulda as we are of Bach at every turn. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I suspect you will have to like Gulda to have this recording at the top of your pile of favourites. I was always a bit wary of him after not particularly enjoying some of his Mozart and various later programming mashups, but had my mind changed on discovering his remarkable 1960s Beethoven sonatas. Bach’s
Well-Tempered Clavier is different terrain but in many ways equally mountainous.
Once you have become acquainted with the range and depth of this recording you soon appreciate its qualities and foibles, as it is in many ways as distinctive as Glenn Gould’s version, though without the latter’s occasionally frustrating willfulness. Both are brilliant, but both can be an acquired taste.
Both Gulda’s rhythmic acuity and ability to nuance voices are clear throughout, and he doesn’t ‘ham-up’ Bach in any way, other than in throwing in some strangely unidiomatic but quirkily forgivable ornaments here and there. There is some sublimely soft and expressive playing to go along with the propulsive and energetic, lyricism to contrast with the spiky or percussive. Take the change between the percussively driving fugue of
BWV 856 and the sweetly lyrical and flowing prelude of
BWV 857 and consider the difference between those two worlds. This recording is filled with such wide contrasts, and this is a quality which makes it stand out even four and a half decades later.
As with many piano performances, tempi can at times slow down to the ruminative, such as the prelude of
BWV 853. I rather like these pensive qualities and find myself dreaming along with the performer, lost in timelessness. Less appealing is the more clattering glare of
BWV 861 which I presume is a more ‘organ’ tinted performance, at least judging on the use of the pedal. In other words, you have to take the rough with the smooth – admittedly a subjective conclusion since what I find aversive may be an exciting treat for others. There are indeed some exciting moments to be had as well, for instance the prelude of
BWV 864 which comes in at a bracing 50 seconds. There is a slight difference between Book I and Book II in terms of recording quality" (
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Jan/Bach_WTC_0300650MSW.htm
I much prefer the quality of BOOK ONE recording. ( IMO).
System: stacked pairs of Quads ESL 57's[ Wayne Picquets refurbished panels] & Townshend SuperTweeters + SUPRATEK CORTESE FULL PREAMP and CROFT "Hybrid" Amplifier: very good results with classical music and jazz ...