Search - Sviatoslav Richter :: Bach: Wohltemperirte Clavier (SHM)

Finally a warm sounding CD release of this masterpiece!

Robert Wade Cottingham | Dallas, TX | 12/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm gonna be subjective here. I heard the LP's of Richter's WTC on Angel/Melodiya years ago. That experience was, in a word, transcendent!

In two words, transcendent and beautiful. Well, transcendent, beautiful, and unforgettable. I still have the LP's and they still sound wonderful.



Years later, I tried the RCA 1992 CD release. Truly horrible and unlistenable, harsh, nothing like listening to the LP's.



Later I tried the Olympia CD versions. Seemed a little warmer.



Also tried the Polo version from China - nice, but a different recording

from a different time and place, so not the same as my youthful

love affair with the sound of the LP's.



This month, I bought this expensive SHM version. Somebody got it right finally, it sounds just almost like the LP.



From what I have read, others have also sought a nice sounding CD of this masterpiece. You can read lots of negative reviews about the sound quality, in the reviews for the 1992 RCA release, and they are true. But THIS ONE, the expensive SHM version, sounds real real nice.



I told you it would be subjective. Happy listening to you.

"