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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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In Reply to: Two fantastic modern sets... posted by SE on May 18, 2007 at 06:17:28:
At one point I went through them all, from Rogg, Hurford, and Herrick on to Alain, Chapuis, Ruebsam, Richter, and Preston, and in the end I simply found myself happy with Walcha (the stereo cycle). In Bach what I value most is a certain kind of disciplined, straight-forward, steady, and lucid, almost spartan approach, with clear lines and unexaggerated effects. That's Walcha, but since it's the organ, I also wanted something like a demonstration sound, and found it in a BIS SACD budget set by Hans Fagius (the whole set fits in 5 discs with only SACD stereo layer included). Very good playing, too, if less distinctive and colorful than, say, Rogg, Hurford, and Herrick.
Overall, I liked Preston a lot, most of the things seemed right on his set (except a few irritating tempo decisions and rhythmic articulations, and I hated his "Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ"; but his Trio Sonatas were magnificent). He could be wonderfully light and also transmit the gravity behind the conception of these works. The sound was often just gorgeous and the perspective great.
At the end of the day I thought Hurford and Herrick were a bit too much (Hurford somehow rushing at times, with some weird accents, Herrick tending to be a bit too flashy for my tastes). Rogg was fascinating rhythmically - there was something really addictive about that propelling force in his playing - but I didn't like his chorales. Alain was disappointingly nondescript; I had had high expectations after much enjoying her Messiaen. And of Chapuis I remember almost nothing. One that was very good and I almost regret having given up is Wolfgang Ruebsam - but only his earlier set on Philips; the playing is wonderfully articulate and transparent, consistently alive and reflecting enthusiasm for the compositions themselves. And in nice sound. Very satisfying. (The few I heard of Ruebsam's later Naxos recordings I remember as awful, totally nonchalant and workaday in comparison.) Karl Richter is always admirable but a bit weighty and grayish to my ears, more old-school in the impression than Walcha whose power of vision and execution keeps you in the grip of these works from beginning to the end.
But it's unfair to summarize any of them with a word, two. All of them offer many riches.
TL
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- Re: Two fantastic modern sets... - tlyyra 17:49:00 05/20/07 (0)
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