Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1 & 2 [Box set]

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Rosalyn Tureck (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Rosalyn Tureck
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (February 8, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000031X83
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,154 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #79 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Improvisation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tureck - Bach's 48, April 12, 2000

By 

Barry De Boer (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

I was brought up on Tureck's Well-Tempered Clavier and have eagerly awaited this CD issue ever since CDs were invented. I am not disappointed. The tempi are occasionally slower than some modern performances (Schiff, et al)but the crystal clarity and articulation is amazing. Listen to the B-flat Fugue (No 17) in book 1 and marvel at the way the different voices are brought-out. By comparison Schiff seems unsubtle and Gould sounds (to me) crude. Is Tureck true to baroque style? Who knows. This collection is pure music at the very highest level - not a history book! The recording is not wonderful by today's standards but more than adequate once you have got used to the tape hiss. For me, this edition is definitive.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 48 Preludes and Fugues / Rosalyn Tureck, September 6, 2000

By 

Peter Bright (London, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

This is perhaps the most beautiful recording that I have had the pleasure of hearing. I also have piano interpretations of the Well Tempered Clavier by Edwin Fischer, Glen Gould, Andras Schiff and Jeno Jando. While the Fischer recording is also an essential purchase, Tureck's is the only one that holds me spellbound from start to finish. Her tempi are highly variable (note that she was a major influence of Gould's style of playing), but her composure and control are never in doubt. There is quite a lot of background hiss which can be troublesome at first, but over time this became totally insignificant in relation to magnificent music. To me, this music is perfect - one of the only works that, for me, creates the impression of time standing still.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual, June 27, 2002

By 

Carlos Rosa (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

Yes, there is tape hiss, but it's unobtrusive and should not hinder the musical appreciation of any true Bachian. As to tempi, Tureck has a feel for expressing the timeless quality of the WTC, and at her most successful, tempo concerns dissolve. Go to Gould for pianistic virtuosity and an ego that sometimes bruises phrases, other times lifts them to heights of expressive potential; to Fischer (on Naxos) for the personality, the character of each prelude and fugue; to Hewitt for dynamics of almost Lisztian vibrancy, and to Schiff if you want bland, generic vanilla Bach. But if you want your WTC to approach something of the spirtuality and depth of the Matthew Passion or the B-Minor Mass, go with Tureck. She invests every fiber of her apparently reverent soul into each note, a performance which the light of heart can confuse with ponderousness. In short, Tureck's WTC is a must for those who must have their Bach mean as well as say something. For them, considerations such as tape hiss are trivial.