Search - Keith Jarrett :: Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 / Keith Jarrett

Bach is amazing; Jarrett is competent.

C. David LaRoche | Halifax, N.S. | 11/13/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I, for one, enjoy this album, unlike the reviewers below. The two stars given to the album by that reviewer were unwarranted; No matter how "incompetent" Kamus thinks Jarrett is on this record, the music itself is worth far more than two stars. I am great fan of Jarrett, jazz and classical music. I myself play both classical and jazz trumpet at a professional level (the latter... my classical training is coming along nicely, however) and have Gould's Goldberg Variations as well as excerpts from others. While Gould whirlwinds the Variations and performs it expertly, one can only find oneself wondering how much of the recording is Gould simply pumping Bach's music up to his level, and how much of it is as Bach intended it. The same goes for most recordings of the Clavier, which are either completely stale and "legit", or the indulgences of the artist are too much. In Jarrett's rendition (not interpretation), we see something almost opposite of what Jazz players are notorious for (completely re-interpretation); Jarrett plays the Clavier in a mellow, graceful mood, taking all the designated tempos and resisting "adding" anything to the music. His touch is apparent though, and any staleness of the music which can be exhibited on other recordings of Clavier are gone here. This is not the exciting, furious Bach of Gould, this is the thoughtful, pleasant Bach of Jarrett, void of any changes or overbearing artistic styles. To me, Jarrett has almost gone and removed the "artist" from the equation; we forget it is Jarrett playing and simply listen to the pleasant polyphonic lines, the singing voices, and the shimmering releases. A wonderful album; I wouldn't recommend it over the Gould recording for people looking for an 'interpretation' of Bach, however, if you simply want the Well-Tempered Clavier as written, played in a lyrical but not-over-indulgent style, this is your bag.
I would also encourage listeners who have deemed Jarrett void of classical ability to check out his Handel suites or Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues op. 87, which are phenomenal."

The best I ever heard

KMisho | Virginia | 01/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a professional organist and am well versed in Baroque performance practices and stylistic specificities. As such, I have performed tons of Bach.



Jarrett's version is the best I have ever heard. I have even stolen some aspects of his interpretation and added them to my own. Some have commented that it was muddy, uninspired, contains errors. I disagree on all counts. I am most puzzled by the claim that there are errors. I play much of the WTC myself and I heard no errors.



I am most annoyed by people who over-interpret Bach as if each performer has a right to own him. Why doesn't this attitude exist for other composers as well? I don't understand. Jarrett sticks to what is on the page (with only the most minor contextually justifiable exceptions, unlike most other performers) and for this alone Jarrett deserves praise. This tells us Bach lovers that Jarrett trusts Bach's notes to do the work. I get the feeling from a lot of other performers that they do not trust Bach since they feel the need to do so much interpretataion.



I found Jarrett's version to be clear and penetrating. I enjoyed his tempos all told more than any other version I can think of. And there was just enough romantic emotionalism to remain within the scale of Baroque practice. Bach, throughout his music, displayed the capacity to render a wide variety of emotion. This fact I don't need to belabor to his fans. And Jarret does a fine job varying the styles of each prelude and fugue to reveal this often ignored side of Bach.



A technical note: Someone commented that Jarrett fails to bring out dominant lines. This shows a complete ignorance of Baroque performance practices and Bach's intentions. The dominant keyboard instruments back then were the organ and harpsichord and neither instrument has touch control. So the idea that Bach's lines should be touched is simply wrong. Also, Bach felt that the horizontal melodic component should be exactly equal to the vertical harmonic component in fugal work, which means bringing out voices was to Bach a philosophical anethema. This is one thing that makes Andras Schiff's version one of the worst, and Jarrett's one of the best."

Jazzer Jarrett plays fugues

M. Groves | 03/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not being a jazzer, I can't comment on his jazz performances, which seem to consist of long improvisations which fill whole CDs. But among the interpreters of keyboard contrapuntal virtuosity, such as Glenn Gould and Andras Schiff, Keith Jarrett is a favorite of mine. I am generally not a connoisseur of certain performers or performances over others, but Keith Jarrett's recordings are just . . . more fun. His performances are effortless, and they have a driving rhythm that characterizes Baroque music.If you like the Bach fugues, you should hear Jarrett's recording of the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues and Händel's dance suites. His tempos are very fast, and he has a certain sense of humor that comes through in all his performances, making what might seem academic, warm and accessible. Keith Jarrett has a real affinity for this music."