Passacaglia and fugue Cmin BWV 582

[Mark & Steven Bornfeld]

Can someone recommend a recording?

TIA,
Steve

[Sandy]

Post by Mark & Steven Bornfeld
Can someone recommend a recording?

Dear Bornfelds,

Really I'm recommending an organist, Simon Preston.

Unable to get Simon Preston, I have a crappy 2CD set of "The Art of
Fugue" played instead by the execrable Wolfgang Rubsam. Maybe Rubsam
was on Prozac or Ritalin, it's so badly played. I only listen to it
when I have a migraine. Anyway, at the end of it is an *appalling*
version of the Passacaglia and fugue. Phil Collins could do better.

Now, on the other hand, I have a SUPERB 14 CD set of Simon Preston
playing JS Bach's organ works (Deutsche Grammophon). Simon Preston is a
great artist, and his Bach orgelwerk recordings are very sensitive to
the church acoustics and sonorities of many famous baroque organs in
Europe. He has a very strong feel for tempo, the emotions of voicing
(organ stops), voice (fugue!) lines, and rhythmic drive. And like the
pianist Claudio Arrau, you don't hear _him_, but only who he's
interpreting. The 6th CD has the Passacaglia and fugue. That
Passacaglia, wow, it soars up through the heavens every time; it makes
me catch my breath and cry it's so beautiful.

I hope one day that Simon Preston records "The Art of Fugue".

With kind regards,

Sandy

[Steven Bornfeld]

Post by Sandy

Post by Mark & Steven Bornfeld
Can someone recommend a recording?

Dear Bornfelds,
Really I'm recommending an organist, Simon Preston.
Unable to get Simon Preston, I have a crappy 2CD set of "The Art of
Fugue" played instead by the execrable Wolfgang Rubsam. Maybe Rubsam
was on Prozac or Ritalin, it's so badly played. I only listen to it
when I have a migraine. Anyway, at the end of it is an *appalling*
version of the Passacaglia and fugue. Phil Collins could do better.
Now, on the other hand, I have a SUPERB 14 CD set of Simon Preston
playing JS Bach's organ works (Deutsche Grammophon). Simon Preston is a
great artist, and his Bach orgelwerk recordings are very sensitive to
the church acoustics and sonorities of many famous baroque organs in
Europe. He has a very strong feel for tempo, the emotions of voicing
(organ stops), voice (fugue!) lines, and rhythmic drive. And like the
pianist Claudio Arrau, you don't hear _him_, but only who he's
interpreting. The 6th CD has the Passacaglia and fugue. That
Passacaglia, wow, it soars up through the heavens every time; it makes
me catch my breath and cry it's so beautiful.
I hope one day that Simon Preston records "The Art of Fugue".
With kind regards,
Sandy

Thanks for the tip--I'll look into Simon Preston
There's got to be something better for the migraines than Bach on Ritalin.

Thanks,
Steve

[Thomas Wood]

Post by Mark & Steven Bornfeld
Can someone recommend a recording?
TIA,
Steve

I'm not always a huge E. Power Biggs fan, but he definitely had a way with
this piece. He seemed to pace it very effectively and let the drama build
naturally.

The best recording I've heard was the one Biggs made in the Thomaskirche in
Leipzig. Unfortunately, as far as I know, no track from that LP has ever
been released on CD.

The recording Biggs made of the piece on Harvard's Flentrop organ is almost
as good (a little more "square" and less rhapsodic, however). It's available
on Sony's "Essential Classics" series.

Marie-Clarie Alain's recording from 1981 is quite good, too.

Tom Wood

[Steven Bornfeld]

Post by Thomas Wood

Post by Mark & Steven Bornfeld
Can someone recommend a recording?
TIA,
Steve

I'm not always a huge E. Power Biggs fan, but he definitely had a way with
this piece. He seemed to pace it very effectively and let the drama build
naturally.
The best recording I've heard was the one Biggs made in the Thomaskirche in
Leipzig. Unfortunately, as far as I know, no track from that LP has ever
been released on CD.
The recording Biggs made of the piece on Harvard's Flentrop organ is almost
as good (a little more "square" and less rhapsodic, however). It's available
on Sony's "Essential Classics" series.
Marie-Clarie Alain's recording from 1981 is quite good, too.
Tom Wood

Thanks for the tips.

Steve