Customer Reviews

Rosalyn Tureck I: Great Pianists of 20th Century, Vol. 93

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rosalyn Tureck is a total artist. Her art is the measure of a life spent in the service of music. Bach is of course her calling, and no one plays his music better or more insightfully than Tureck. Every note lives, breathes, speaks. The line of the music is measured in depth of understanding and a sense of religious dedication. There are no half measures in Tureck's playing. Every note is significant, every phrase is structured, and the concept is whole. All these qualities give the listener one of the most satisfying musical experiences to be had. Pay particular attention to her treatment of the 2nd Partita. Nothing is rushed or propelled. Tureck is creating a musical architecture, a structure in which she understands where the stresses should be placed and where they should be relaxed. Her polyphony in the fugal section is brilliantly executed. There really is no parallel to Tureck's Bach. I recommend this set for anyone who wishes to really discover Bach as he was meant to be understood.

When Glenn Gould was asked whose Bach playing he liked, he always replied "Rosalyn Tureck's" and this disc proves him right. These two discs contain the six partitas by Bach, which caused a shock when they were published during Bach's life. (the partita's were one of the few works Bach published during his lifetime) Never there was written such great music for keyboard instruments ! Miss Tureck has dedicated her entire career to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and we can only be extremely thankful she did, because she has gained an insight in, and a deep and profound understanding of the music. She gives every note its own meaning in the story that is told by Bach, and treats every measure, line or sentence as necessary parts of the architecture of the piece. She has the unequalled gift of creating a specific and appropriate sound for each voice in the polyphonc web of voices. (I can't understand how she manages to do so but she does and the result is astonishing!) On top of that, Tureck never forgets the original intention of these pieces, namely a collection of dances (gavottes, allemandes, sarabandes and so on) Her recordings spring to life and is full of emotions. Yes, her playing is full of emotions : to all those who always found Bach's music too cerebral and lacking deep emotions, listen to this. Don't miss the opportunity to obtain this marvellous disc !

A number of other reviewers have alluded to the beauty of tone, "religous" quality, wholeness and profound sense of completeness and rightness of these performances. I wholeheartedly agree. Once I received this disc I simply could not stop playing it. The recordings are mono and date from the 1950s so they don't sound like modern digital recordings but the tone of the pianist and of the instrument have real beauty. I find these recordings have an inwardness and sense of profound rightness about them. The pianist has both a strong shaping personality yet allows the music to somehow speak for itself. While all the constituent parts are revealed, the whole certainly adds up to more than their sum. A joyous listening experience. If you respond to these performances you will treasure them for life.

With Bach's music, a wide range of performing media and styles can seem valid. Personal preferences and a good ear will decide which one way or which many ways one likes to hear, for example, the keyboard partitas that comprise this release in the "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" series.

I have become fascinated by the light, air, reflection and "vocalizing" that Rosalyn Tureck reveals in these works. I don't find the frenetic pianism of Glenn Gould nor the rhythmic buoyancy that Wanda Landowska could command, but I admire and respect Tureck's work in allowing these dances time to make their effect.

Time ran out when it came to accommodating these performances from the 1950s onto two CDs. Madame Tureck gave permission for the repeats in one of the sarabandes to be omitted in this 1998 reissue.

I don't know what these reviewers are talking about. First of all the package is by Philips not Sony. I don't hear any hiss at all when I listen to it (is this reviewer talking about the right one?) Also I think the comparison with Gould is bad. These partitas made little impression on me when I heard Gould play them. When I heard Tureck play them it was like a revelation. She plays Bach with a soul, they breath and live. Listening to these recordings brings in euphoria. These recordings are some of the most beautiful I have in all my piano cds. They are like magic. I have lots of other Bach cds including Gould and Fischer, but these partitas are what I come back to again and again. I don't want to criticize Gould on Bach because he is a genius; but if all you heard is Gould then you don't know Bach. Gould and Tureck play Bach differently and they are both worth hearing. Sorry my personal preference for Bach is this CD, It is my favorite. Strongly recommended.

I own this CD set and disagree with the other reviewer here who claimed (twice) that there is hiss on these digital recordings. More likely it is his stereo that is introducing the noise, not the recording. And if the packaging scratches the CDs then put it in a jewel case or a mega-changer and stop complaining!

Turek sets a 'reflective' pace on these quality Philips recordings of Bach's partitas, just as they should be played. Bach is not supposed to be played at blazing speeds. That's like spending your vacation driving in your car at 65mph and watching the scenery fly by. Bach's music employs the most natural, organic chords. And so they should be played at a tempo where one can actually *listen* to the melodies and harmonies as they arise, linger and fade. Turek was clearly feeling what she played, as she played it.

A highly recommended recording from EMI Classics.

It is inevitable that in a critique of this nature, one artist will be compared with others performing the same programme. It is equally inevitable that Tureck will be compared with Gould because of all the "Bach" pianists who are "on record", these two are the most closely analogous.

I have admired Glenn Gould's playing (although not the quality of his recordings) for a very long time. I continue to admire him enormously. However, as I have "taken kindly the counsel of the years", I have come to appreciate the subtleties of Tureck's interpretations and their musical validity. Borne of a lifetime's scholarship, her performances, in my view, occasionally make some of Gould's offerings appear a little gauche by comparison. She often is criticised for slowness of tempi but it is clear that her timings are chosen to allow the architecture and development of Bach's contrapuntal designs to be transparent; a transparency in whose absence the musical value of the works is compromised.

There are recordings of these Partitas done by many fine pianists - Lipatti and Hess spring to mind - but Rosalyn Tureck had an almost mystical insight into the composer's works and a highly individual style of performance which seems to melt as she plays, allowing us to by-pass the mechanics of performance and become wholly engrossed in the magic which is Bach.

Good recordings (the CD transfer has been well done) - brilliant playing.

Unsurpassable!

any question of authenticity - bach on the piano? - would simply miss the point. is the instrument the thing or the message?
these are inspirational performances, played with a sensitivity and lucidity that penetrate the depths of bach's music like few others. they should be heard by all lovers of the greatest of all composers.

Fans of Rosalyn Tureck frequently allude to her influence on a young Glenn Gould, as if to bolster her credibility by way of association. Although there is much to commend in Tureck's playing, she is bound to compare unfavorably to Gould, who possessed a musical imagination and creative genius that comes along perhaps once every century and makes such comparisons rather unfair. What Tureck offers are nicely chiseled performances of Bach's music that make effective use of ornaments and other compositional details. Although she is not quite as successful at conveying the larger meaning of these works or revealing their wondrous architecture, her playing is nevertheless distinctive in touch and articulation, and is usually quite interesting.

Sony has packaged this in such a way that wehn the discs are removed form the holder they become scratched. Also it must be played at low volume for the hiss. Too bad, because Tureck is the master of Bach.