Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Bach recordings and masters...

I have discovered a Bach genius.
His name is Sergey Schepkin. You can listen to him on mp3.com. apparently he is quite well known in the music world, and his WTC 1 recording has been rated as one of the best 8 of all time. I saw him in concert he other day. I was absolutly floored. i have heard many "masters" play Bach, but none like him. i heard his Goldberg Variations...i was honestly on the edge of my seat. My other pianist friends, sitting next to me, were gripping the edges of their seats. I would highly suggest you listen...

Yes I heartily second this claim. Another present day Bach expert is Evgeny Koroliov. His Bach recordings are MUST-HAVEs for Bach lovers. Grab everything by him if you can...

just curious, I wonder how many people here actually like Glenn Gould's Bach recordings?

I do.

His last recording of the Goldberg Variations is one of my all time favorites.

i love glenn gould's bach, i think its the best ever!!!!! hes one of the greatest musical genuises of the century

i like his second goldberg better than his first

Glenn Gould's Bach is excellent as well..but i think Schepkin at times exceeds Gould. But with both of them, there is a way they play, where it is like they think about every single note, and every note gets placed according to their exac will. it is so meticulous, yet has so much life. One day, i dream to play like that.

I have both and I have to agree. There is a world of difference between the two and the last one is by far better than the first.

PianoMuse and Andrew, thanks for the suggestions. I am always on the lookout for new Bach recordings.

I wonder how long it will take before people stop reacting to the mention of Bach interpreters other than Gould as if it were sacreligious to do so?

Ryan

I hope you aren't referring to me because I never would have said that. I still like Gould's final Goldberg rcording better than any other I have heard and am not really concerned with what (Gasp!) Bach would think. That is not to say that there are not many other fine interpreters of Bach including the one mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I will have to listen to him and see what I think. There are certainly other Bach works recorded by Gould that I don't care for that much.

What have you heard (just curious). I care, and have found what I read to be enlightening. Especially parts about his use of rubato and the singing quality of his playing, that is, pauses, stops, breaths, etc. Apparently his playing packed a lot of emotion. There are those who would say that such elements are intrusive and have no place in the performance of Bach...

Ryan

JBryan - I wasn't referring to you. I just think it is amusing that any time someone mentions a non-Gould Bach recording someone else makes a "yeah, but what about Gould" type of reply. I wasn't trying to be nasty about it, just poke a bit of fun. Maybe a smiley would have helped

Ryan

Sorry Ryan if I came off as being a bit strident. I could say the same here.

I can only say that I agree with what you have read about Bach. At least his music has always seemed to be much more expressive than the mechanical interpretations of many have allowed. I find that the Gould recording of the Goldberg Variations to which I referred seems to exemplify whet you are saying quite nicely. His first recording, on the other hand, seems diametrically opposite.

Everytime I listen to Gould's playing, I cannot tell the difference between his playing and the loud contruction noise outside. They both have harsh sounds on the same dynamic level. Pianistically good, sure. But I don't see what all the hype is about. Or maybe I am wrong, and the contruction noise outside actually blocked my hearing of his playing? well.. his Beethoven is bad anyway!

um, ya..........

Ha, I love Glenn Goulds style of playing...

I only own one of his cd and hope to get more!

Crashtest--I don't know where you live, but my construction noise sounds nothing like Glenn Gould--I'd like to move into your neighborhood.

This is not a popular position, but I find some of Gould's Beethoven very enjoyable. Now, I didn't say he followed the score faithfully, but his early Beethoven Sonatas are a good change of pace from time to time.

Just my $.02

okay maybe I'll get slammed for saying this but I'll say it anyway, since I asked the question.

Some of the first few Bach recordings I'd heard were from Gould, and they totally put me off. I totally hated Bach then. It was only after hearing Andras Schiff and (cowers in fear) Martha Argerich, that I began to like Bach...

Thanks, PianoMuse, for letting us know about Schepkin. I'd never heard of him, but after listening to some of the mp3's, I want to hear more; wow! That's my kind of Bach! I would love to see/hear him live.
Thanks again,

Susan

I like Glenn's performances and if nothing else, they provide much food for thought. A few other outstanding Bach interpreters are/were Rosalyn Tureck (and in fact, Gould was influenced by her and held her in high esteem), and a modern day performer who is know for her Bach is Angela Hewitt. I have a recording of the 6 partitas performed by Tureck and they definately have that "of another world" feel to them. I have Hewitt's performance of book 1 of the WTC, which are perhaps more tame in interpretation than Gould's but are very good. A couple of years ago she recorded the Goldberg Variations and played ALL of the repeats. I've only heard some of the variations on the radio but I thought they were outstanding and thought provoking.