GREAT RECORDINGS phase 18

J.S BACH
The Well-Tempered Clavier

Edwin Fischer

3 91958 2

Mono
ADD

Recorded 1933–1936
238 minutes (3CD)

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"There is nothing of the showman in timeless performances which are free from intrusive mannerisms, mechanical rhythms and bland phrases. Textures are transparent, highlighting strands of fugue without a hint of over-emphasis or dogmatism. I am always deeply touched by this playing, by its humanity and an awesome modesty that's untainted by reverence. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Bach playing."
(The Gramophone)

While Menuhin was recording Bach in Paris, the Swiss pianist and conductor Edwin Fischer was making the first complete recording of the ‘48’ in London, in 1933–36.

Stephen Plaistow’s notes place Fischer among the more philosophical and individual pianists of the early 20th century, and cite his pupil Alfred Brendel’s description of his playing as ‘untamed, even at its most decorous’. That characteristic lends this huge project to record so many short pieces its edge and a wide rhetorical range – allied of course with Fischer’s famed beauty of tone and control of nuance.

As with the Menuhin disc, this new state-of-the art remastering by Abbey Road 78 expert Andrew Walter improves greatly on the recording’s previous appearance on Références.