Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Edwin Fischer :: Bach: Book 2, The Well-Tempered Clavier

Fischer's 'New Testament'

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What, nobody has reviewed this marvelous transfer of Edwin Fischer playing the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Bach's so-called 'New Testament'? Well, I couldn't let that pass, even though it's been, four years since it was issued. This set, along with its companion set of the Book I, has often been in my CD player. Fischer was one of the great pianists of the first half of the twentieth century and this transfer is wonderful. Only five of the Preludes and Fugues from Book II appear in the Philips 'Great Pianists of the 20th Century,' so even if you own that, you don't have the whole kahuna.



Fischer's was the first integral recording of both Books and it remains one of the great recordings of the century. Fischer's control of line and individual voices has to be heard to be believed. Further, unlike post-Gouldian Bach players, his piano seems not to have hammers. His pianissimo passages are simply ravishing. He does, at times, double the bass line as was customary in his day. This doesn't bother me at all, but I suppose some purists might sniff. We have to realize that this was a different time and for all that the advances in knowledge of historically-informed practices have grown apace, there is still a good deal of room, at least as far as I'm concerned, for playing like Fischer's. If you disagree with that, then this set is not for you. But if, like me, you respond to great playing and musicianship such as Fischer's, you won't want to be without this set and its old testament companion.



Strongly recommended.



Scott Morrison"