You can call me Johann. But don't expect me to answer to that.
If I have one complaint regarding the Brilliant Classics Complete Bach edition it’s this:
Too much harpsichord!
Or, to put it another way, this edition relies too much on period instruments. Would it have killed anyone to use a contemporary piano to perform The Well-Tempered Clavier? Or the Six Partitas? Unless one is a music historian, or someone with a taste/fascination/fetish for the harpsichord, then these performances will leave one cold. Perhaps Brilliant Classics was going for the “purist” approach to Bach. But I think Bach can be interpreted and played with instruments invented after the 1740s, don’t you?
Regarding today’s compositions — Six Partitas — I’m pretty sure these would sound a lot better to my ears if they were played on the piano…for example, by — oh, say, Glenn Gould.
Yes. I was right. And by no means do I wish to disparage the performance by Pieter-Jan Belder on today’s Brilliant Classics CD. Pieter-Jan is a great harpsichordist. But, to me, that’s like saying he’s a great fingernails-on-the-chalkboard player.
The compositions on today’s CD are:
BWV 825
BWV 826
BWV 830
All three were composed around 1726. Bach was 41.
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