Customer Reviews

Bach: Das wohltemperierte Klavier I

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After having purchased this recording about a week ago, I cannot stop listening to it. I read about it in the New York Times, in a review by Anthony Tommasini (7/11/04), and I'm grateful to him for bringing attention to this superb recording.

I've been waiting for a recording like this of the first book of the WTC, having grown weary of Gould and Schiff (whose recording I never really liked in the first place anyway) and others. Fellner's recording is a breath of much-needed fresh air. His playing is sensitive, articulate, deeply intelligent, and passionate within the bounds of taste and reason. His tempos are outstanding, always finely-tuned to what the structure of each prelude and fugue seems to require. He isn't afraid to use the pedal, but his superb ear for sound insures that nothing is ever blurred or exaggerated. While his performance of the preludes is brilliant and beautiful, it is in the fugues where one finds playing of the highest order: his exceptional ear, deep intelligence and masterful technique reveal the structure of these complex works in a way that is always natural and unforced. You will not hear subjects, answers and countersubjects hammered out in an imposing manner; rather, Fellner allows important structural lines to emerge in the most natural-sounding of ways, giving the listener the guidance needed to follow the counterpoint, but without making the performance sound like an analysis. The result is breathtaking: lyrical, unforced yet under control, intelligent, and beautiful.

I can't praise this recording enough. I hope we will have many more Bach recordings to look forward to from Till Fellner in the near future.

There are certain words that associate with different artists playing Bach, such as "fluidity" for Edwin Fischer, "gorgeous sound" for Davitt Moroney, "by-the-book" for Wanda Landowska, and "Gould" for Glenn Gould. When I listened to Till Fellner's "well-tempered" CDs, I was thinking, "hmm charming...not your typical phrasing... seductive...sounds Chopin...?!... but it flows so nicely I don't want to stop it." After it finished, I was surprised that I didn't seem that upset with the deviations that normally would have driven me nuts.

Normally I absolutely refuse to finish listening to an artist whose interpretation I cannot stand, such as Anne Sophie Mutter when she Romanticized Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, and Hilary Hahn when she botched the tempo and phrasing in Bach's Violin Concertos. However, Fellner's playing was so likable and flowed so nicely that I was nevertheless charmed into not only listening to it, but also repeatedly.

For the Bach purists who are at first taken aback by Fellner's interpretation, give it a chance. You may also be charmed.

I own eight or nine recordings of the Well-tempered clavier, and can (or could) play some of the fugues. Prior to this recording the Schiff, and in some places the Gould, recordings were my favorite. Fellner's interpretations though are sublime - with the fusion of spirituality and technique that marks greatness. I've listened to his interpretation now thirty times and I just love his playing.

This is, in my opinion, the best recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier I have ever heard, beating out such greats as Glenn Gould and Edwin Fischer. The preludes were played with breathtaking finesse, imagination, and an amazing control that, paradoxically, only heightened the excitement of these pieces. One sensed incredible strength and energy held in reserve - but just barely. Anyone who thinks that Bach is "boring" must listen to this performance!
If the preludes were incredible, the fugues were more so. Till Fellner's ability to bring out not just one voice, but two or three *at once*, is not to be believed until you hear it. Even Gould and Fischer, my favorite Bach pianists, did not often demonstrate this extent of multi-layered complexity in their playing of counterpoint. The incredible intellect and imagination that I could sense behind the playing boggled my mind.
In short, this recording passed my litmus test for greatness - it grabbed my attention right from the start and WOULD NOT let it go.
Keep up the great work Till Fellner! I'd give this one six stars if I could.

The visual I get from Gould's playing is that of a man changing into a werewolf while playing a piano that is on fire and plummeting down the side of a mountain. I'm eternally thankful for Gould bringing Bach keyboard pieces into the mainstream repertoire, but I distinctly dislike his style. Fellner's rendition is everything Gould's is not: thoughtful, measured, fluidic. The ECM recordings are well-produced and offer clarity to match the quality of performance. I like Richter's version of WTC, but I think Fellner's lends the gravity due to a Bach piece. I sincerely hope that Fellner will go on to record WTC II, Goldberg Variations, and the English, Italian, and French Suites.

What is so wonderful about Bach's music is that its harmonic and rhythmic lines shine forth everywhere as long as the performer understands and communicates those lines. This is the case in Fellner's reditions. Gould accomplishes it in one way, many others in their ways, and Fellner in his way. I believe Bach would be well-pleased to hear his intentions shine forth in Fellner's use of nuances only available on the piano, as well as in Gould's use of the instrument. To lock into one interpretation and close ones mind to others is to limit Bach's limitless potential. Thank you Tim Fellner for allowing Bach to shine forth yet once again.

This is a very unpretentious recording, but full of natural quality and flow. It is a long needed counterweight to Gould and Schiff, who made das Wohltemperierte Klavier almost their own.

I can recommend Fellners style very highly. Other than Gould, he does not impose his personality or excentricity onto the piece.

Not just a contender, a better interpretation and recording!

i'm also a strong partisan for this recording. the general presentation is one of high technical control, excellent sound and a fine instrument, though the sound is a bit hard in the high, loud notes.

the three features of fellner's interpretation are a continuous and clear separation or layering of contrapuntal texture, a beautiful rapport between tempo, dynamics and articulation, and a subdued romanticism of interpretation. the voices all sing as independent lines and melodies are brought out of arpeggiated or complex textures (as in the C prelude); the interpretations all have a wonderfully organic conception, without displays of technique for its own sake; the contrasts in mood are subtle but distinctive, and there is a lovely use of long, carefully prepared melodic narratives (as in the E flat or f sets). pedal is used to provide sustained voices, but the interpretations are hardly soft and are never blurred or murky. pellucid, flowing, eventful, sensitive, spontaneous, unaffected, absorbing, shapely, subtle, unhurried, poised, heartfelt -- all come to mind to describe these performances. perhaps the only mannerism is a tendency to finish every fugue with a ritardando.

i've come back to these recordings several times and have found them consistently delightful and accessible. there is a modern tendency to pack music with a variety of extraneous considerations, and make it all more serious than music deserves. fellner allows bach's music to breathe and sing, and the piano to contribute its own palette of beauty, and weaves the voices and textures with an understated but charming originality.

I have certain professional musician friends who would surely sneer at me for enjoying this kind of performance of Bach. They would tell me all the things about Bach's music that they think are not done properly here and blah, blah, blah. I have played Bach on bowed instruments and heard countless renditions for years, and now I am joyfully learning to play Bach on piano. It's true that all the points my friends would make are totally valid. I just don't care. Fellner does it for me with this recording in a big way. He's not perfect. At times he sounds like he's playing safe where he could afford to take chances, but I easily forgive him for that. This is beautiful simplicity (I don't mean simple as in dull-witted) with a unique character that I cannot properly put to words. I am so glad to have this set.

Before I found this recording of the WTC I would only listen to Feltsman`s. Nobody else seems to click with me, with the exception that I find myself warming up to Hewitt's latest WTC set (now there's a guilty pleasure. I don`t dare tell my musician friends that I listen to Hewitt). If you are contemplating buying a WTC recording and are reading these reviews specifically for advice on what to buy, I have some for you. Stop reading this and don't read any more reviews. Instead, just listen to the sample clips of as many different recordings as you have time to spare, and go with whatever turns you on.

I knew and admired the version of Keith Jarrett because he played the music as written without any 'interpretation' of the executor.
Till Fellner does te same, he plays the music very fluidly, virtuous and accurate. His touch is less hard and rather meditative in comparison with K. Jarrett.
He only slow down the last bars of the piece.
I do not like the version of the so prasen Angela Hewitt.
She interprets to much, plays to much rubato. She can not fascinate me in the way Jarrett and Tiller does to me.
I gave Tillner a 10 for virtuosity and musicality and a 10 for (non?)'interpretation'.