Customer Reviews

Bach: The Well-Tempered Claiver [Das Wohltemperierte Clavier / Le Clavier Bien Tempere]

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

 

 

I prefer Moroney's version to Kenneth Gilbert's (apparently the other 'bigee' in the harpsichord field), and this one costs less. Moroney's boasts a very pleasant sounding harpsichord (i.e., won't make your teeth fall out) and an intimate performance that makes up in subtlty what it may lack in dynamic range (and that's just fine with me!). I won't get into the piano vs. harpsichord (or other period instrument) debate, but if you're curious about how this amazing, monumental work probably sounded to its composer, I suggest you look no further. Harmonia Mundi just recently reissued this performance as part of a bigger set - also looks like a great deal to me!

Everybody knows that Bach was a master of counterpoint, but Davitt Moroney's version of WTC makes you realise just how great his melodies are, too. Moroney's version is breezy and lyrical, while at the same time never failing to keep to the tight structures of the fugues. In many cases here, the preludes especially shine (particularly in Book II, where the repeats allow Moroney to stretch out a bit)--it may even be possible to say that he has fun with the music. The recording itself is very intimate, as if the instrument were built right into the headphones, allowing the listener to follow all the fugal lines very clearly. Anyone wary of investing in this set, afraid of four hours of "theoretical" harpsichord music, need not fear--this recording will have you humming its subjects in no time. And the budget price is an added bonus--I can't believe that Harmonia Mundi is offering this set so cheaply. A must-have for any lover of Bach.

I was simply looking for a good compliment to the Gould recordings on harpsichord. I chose this set based, in part, on price and the decent reviews. It is an excellent compliment and more. While my wife still prefers the piano (and Gould), she's as drawn to this performance as I am.

This set is a very happy discovery.

I had a bit of a prejudice at first against Moroney, and I admit that reviews influence me more than I expect, and all it takes is for someone to call a performer robotic, and I start looking for my piano teacher rapping me on the knuckles. Even if I don't find it to be true, I might then file the contradictory data away in my limited memory. Moroney = Robotic. But it's not at all true that this is a pedestrian or stiff interpretation. It just has its own character. You might love it or not, for whatever personal reasons. It's a safe buy, in any event, especially given the price. It's not the heroic drama of Landowska, or the Germanic precision of Leonhardt, or the clavichord finesse of Kirkpatrick, or the quirky piano of Gould, or the zen piano of Gulda, it's a search for new vision. Along with Tilney's, I'm liking this one more and more. The added bonus is the outstanding recording quality that lets you hear every luscious nuance of this harpsichord. Not the flaws, the shrill "dental" high notes and the clunking of the machine, the way some historicoholics would have you suffer, but the full and chocolatey sound of the fine instrument's pluck-end-release. Certainly nothing in the least dull here. A very human and insightful personal interpretation to boot.

Moroney gives a lifeless rendition of these pieces. Too often they sound mechanical-sewing machine Bach. His playing sounds to me as if he is more of a musicologist than a musician, although he is clearly highly technically proficient. I'm afraid to me he all too rarely displays qualities over and above mere techical proficiency.

Don't buy it!

While I don't think this is that bad, I don't think it deserves five stars. I think this is a very boring recording. While normally I'm captivated by Bach, I got very impatient in this mundane version. It also seems the tempi were chosen at random for the pieces, making some even more boring and others strained. The recording itself may not be that good either. Unless you have a very good stereo this will sound boxey.

A perfectly dull recording.