Customer Reviews

J.S. Bach: The Art of the Fugue

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Taussig's endeavor is certainly commendable, his skill unquestionable: or, from a slightly different perspective, one is tempted to suggest that Bach's stunningly beautiful Art of Fugue exhibits the uncanny tendency to automatically redress interpretive weaknesses.

And just a couple of minor weaknesses I have found. First: how the playing can be muddled, rushed and (clumsily) uneven in places (I am thinking of Contrapunctus 1, which never really seems to get off the ground) represents for me an intellectual challenge: doesn't this revolutionary recording technique enable the separate treatment of each voice?

Second: as one reviewer notices, the rendition is a little on the romantic side, although not consistently so.

But these are indeed trifles. Overall, this cd is a remarkable achievement. Yet, it is enough to listen to Gould's late (piano) recording of Contrapunctus 1 vis a vis Taussig's to grasp the difference between the superhuman and the merely human. The comparison stirs up old, still anxious questions: why is it so arduous to even come close to Glenn Gould's sound? What was his secret? Why did he die without recording the entire Art of Fugue on his piano? Why did he die at all?

These are devastating questions, which can only be reiterated. Questions that Taussig, through his frank, even passionate Art of Fugue, seems to be rephrasing in dignified, wistful ways.

Recommended.

I clicked on the 1-Click Purchase after listening only to the Contrapuctus No.9. Extraordinary! And the rest of that CD is likewise outstanding for its bold musicianship and crackling intelligence. I can't wait for the rest of this series of 18 CDs. Tauber's recording technique, while unorthodox, produces a wonderful interpretation of Bach's genius - of which Gould (a friend of Tauber who also dabbled in electronic instruments during their seminal days) would have approved - minus the humming... These recordings prove once more that the instrument matters much less than the control of the instrument. Bravo!

I must admit I dislike calling this work a real performance since it is not more than a series of MIDI sequences (there are many other sequences - and better - in the world!).

Interpretation of the great "Art of the Fugue" here is sometimes poetic; the sound is nice, not excellent, and often the Author falls into something ridicolous, such as too much staccato at the end of Contrapuncto I after a lot of well balanced phrasings; or when he marks each theme with a lot of flourishes which have no sense in piano music, above all in the Disklavier music, etc.

But the biggest mistake is to compare these "performances" with the Glenn Gould ones (see from the web). Also these are too metrical, too sequenced, too false. Sorry; and Gould was not a machine as the Author thinks.

Here is likely the best Disklavier recording ever produced. The time put into this project must have been staggering. I heartily recommend that the listener have a good meal, a good glass of red wine and a long listening session with this disc -- during which all cares and time are abandoned. Buy this.