Favorite Bach organist/interpreter?
Mike Bottemiller
recorded (let alone a set of Bach's complete works). Of the 20+ CDs
and eight records I own of Bach organ music, Chorzempa's measly little
5-track CD reamins my favorite. Discounting his absurdly long and
largo Prelude and Fugue in E-flat (BWV 552), coming in at 23+ minutes,
this disc shines, particularly his Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.
There's a 20 second improvised cadenza toward the end of the fugue
that I'm sure Bach would enjoy, considering his own improvisational
style. The Toccata and Fugue in D minor is excellent, and I've heard
no better version; both the Prelude and Fugue in A minor and the
Prelude and Fugue in D major have perfect voicing and feel. Four
superb tracks, also in sound quality (in spite of the recordings being
analog and made in 1971), along with one mystery (the "St. Anne" was
recorded in 1983 - perhaps as an instructional piece, which might
explain its curious pace).
On a side note, I enjoy Peter Hurford's playing, but why the hell does
he prefer such nasal voicings? This has kept me from purchasing his
complete Bach organ recordings. Now, if only Zsigmond Szathmary had
recorded a complete set as well...
For replies remove "spamless" from return address.
Charles
news:3da3061d...@news.seanet.com...
: It's a shame Daniel Chorzempa doesn't have more Bach organ music
Of four complete organ sets, my current favourite is Lionel Rogg on the Silbermann
in Arlesheim. Stockmeier provides another worthwhile choice with a great
combination of stops. I also have the Hurford, and although his playing is
marvellous, I don't care for his registration (too many fluty sounds lacking
harmonic richness). Steer well clear of Werner Jacob - I picked up his 16 CD set
for around 10 Euro, but it still wasn't worth it!
Regards
Charles
M. Slater
>From: mr...@seanet.com (Mike Bottemiller)
>It's a shame Daniel Chorzempa doesn't have more Bach organ music
>recorded (let alone a set of Bach's complete works). Of the 20+ CDs
>and eight records I own of Bach organ music, Chorzempa's measly little
>5-track CD reamins my favorite.
I was lucky enough to have taken master classes with Anton Heiller. He remains
my favorite Bach interpreter on the organ.
Mark
Joel Warren Lidz
Comments on complete and near-complete sets of Bach's organ works:
I studied pipe organ for many years at Penn State, Harvard and
elsewhere. That doesn't mean anyone should agree with my opinion, just
that there's reason not to discount it.
I would rate the large sets as follows, from best to less good:
Chapuis: very spontaneous, revealing a love of playing. Great
instrument and recording for 1968. Recently rereleased. Supposedly
available at Berkshire.
Rubsam on Philips: Infinitely better than his later ponderous Naxos.
Energetic but less spontaneous than Chapuis. Here's what the
Pipedreams web page says about it:
"Wolfgang Rubsam (Philips 438 170-2; 16-disc box, including Art of the
Fugue) offers arguably the finest recording of Bach's music ever made,
featuring an exceptional pair of Metzler instruments vividly captured
in rich ambience. Interpretations are always cogent, imaginative, and
involved. Rubsam's playing combines the finest aspects of his
teachers, Helmut Walcha (discipline and total integrity) and
Marie-Claire Alain (subtle nuance and rythmic verve). In Rubsam's more
recent Bach cycle (on the budget-priced Naxos label, available
separately) you'll enjoy a greater variety of historic and modern
instruments, but the artist's interpretations are somewhat more
individualistic, even provocative, still arresting if not quite
main-stream. The Naxos discs do have the advantage of low cost and
easy availability, while the big Philips set may be maddeningly hard
to find, though it's sure to please."
Rogg on Harmonia Mundi could have been a near-first choice because the
organ is one of the best used in near-complete sets, but his playing
needs a bit more energy and innovation.
Preston on DGG is worth hearing, but somewhat eccentric. His use of
staccato is questionable and the organ is a bit muddy at times. The
complete set has only recently been released. Worth hearing.
Koopman on Teldec -- I find his use of ornamentation a bit excessive
at times, but the playing is arresting in its originality of
conception and very energetic. Personally, I would not consider this
a first choice as the counterpoint is a bit muddy. And it's not
cheap.
Fagius is also good, but I find listening to lot of Nasard tiring.
(His Mendelssohn is fabulous.) Now available very cheaply on
Brilliant, but Chapuis is a much better choice.
Herrick is expensive and nothing really special.
Hurford's first recording is fine but on inauthentic instruments. I
dumped it after acquiring the Rubsam.
Guillou is a great virtuoso, but his Dorian recordings are a joke in
my opinion, like Anthony Newman on acid. He made an earlier recording
which was marvelous, as did Newman when he was a grad student.
Have heard part of Bowyer's series. Not bad, but not competitive with
Chapuis in view of price.
Walcha played before much was known of Baroque performance practice.
Blind from childhood, his playing is Teutonically severe with emphasis
on the works' structural integrity.
Of instruments I've played myself, my favorite was the five manual
Walcker at the Great Hall Cathedral of Ulm, Germany, though playing at
St. Francis in Prague where Mozart had played was more meaningful.
Perhaps the world's finest instrument is the St. Bavo at Haarlem,
Netherlands, available on numerous CD's. Biggs made a marvelous LP of
Mozart on it, but it is still not on CD.
Joel Warren Lidz, Ph.D.
Pete Blue
as pre-HIP and "Teutonically severe" is itself Teutonically severe, I
feel. For the most part, Walcha's set (the stereo remake in its most
recent remastering; the superior mono is NLA) is among the best
evidence I know for calling Bach the Fifth Evangelist.
Pete Blue
aero...@yahoo.com (Joel Warren Lidz) wrote in message news:<8f3f0147.02100...@posting.google.com>...
Viv
certainly on radio or CDs etc. BUT - can anyone tell me why it is that it
seems to be a different instrument altogether when I am in a church and
hearing a live organ? Then all of a sudden it means something to me!
Viv
Sybrand Bakker
wrote:
IMO the organ is extreemly difficult to record, especially in
reverberant churchs. You also need better than ordinary speakers to
transmit the idea of spaciousness. If you have a lousy recording
(speaking technically) or lousy speakers the balance between the
individual voices will almost always be destroyed.
Regards
Sybrand Bakker