# Favorite Bach Solo Keyboard Recordings?



## tdc

If you could only own 3 Bach solo keyboard recordings what would you choose?*

* Including harpsichord, piano or organ recordings only please.


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## leroy

I'll take Ivo Pogorelich with Bachs English suites no 2 and 3, Angela Hewwitt with The Well Tempered Klavier (2007 Hyperion recording) and Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg variations.


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## Balthazar

Well-Tempered Clavier - Glenn Gould at the piano

Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould at the piano (1955)

French Suites - András Schiff at the piano


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## joen_cph

1) WTC - Feinberg
2) English suites 2+3 - Pogorelich

3) less certain, but maybe the French Suites/Gavrilov, Partitas, or Toccatas. 
The Italian Concerto & Chromatic Fantasy ... would be difficult to not have also.


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## pavelissa

WTC - Richter
Goldberg Variations - Gould 1955 Columbia
Italian Concerto in F Major - Richter


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## Barbebleu

Anything so long as Glenn Gould is playing it.


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## Bulldog

I'll just go with names:

Organ - Andrea Marcon, Gerhard Weinberger, Gustav Leonhardt
Piano - Rosalyn Tureck, Roger Woodward, Glenn Gould
Harpsichord - Kenneth Gilbert, Christophe Rousset, Glen Wilson

Overall, I prefer my Bach on the powerful and edgy side (especially the organ music)


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## StlukesguildOhio




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## MrTortoise

Goldberg Variations - Gould 1981
Goldberg Variations - Gould 1955
Italian Concerto - Brendel


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## KenOC

Only three? I would certainly include this. (Not the earlier version...)


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## Musicophile

Pierre Hantaï playing the Goldbergs








I've explained why on my blog: http://musicophilesblog.com/2015/07/15/bachs-goldberg-variations-and-the-brilliant-pierre-hantai/

Perahia with the English Suites








I'm a big Perahia fan, and I'm cheating, this is a double album 

Igor Levit's Partitas








Nominated for the Gramophone Awards this year, and deservedly so, http://musicophilesblog.com/2015/08...on-the-2015-gramophone-award-nominees-part-i/


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## pavelissa

Why no one except me has mentioned Richter or like his recordings? What do you people think of Richter's interpretation of Bach?


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## Bulldog

pavelissa said:


> Why no one except me has mentioned Richter or like his recordings? What do you people think of Richter's interpretation of Bach?


Just speaking for myself, I very much like Richter's Bach. However, our choices here are quite limited; I'd put Richter in my top ten of Bach pianists.

FWIW, I find Richter my favorite Handel pianist. Of course, the competition is much lighter than with Bach.


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## Musicophile

pavelissa said:


> Why no one except me has mentioned Richter or like his recordings? What do you people think of Richter's interpretation of Bach?


His well tempered piano was my first recording of this work, and I still like it. That said I still would go for Richter more on late romantic stuff.


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## StlukesguildOhio

I like Richter's Bach... but it's not one of my top few choices. I prefer my Bach less "Romantic".


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## pavelissa

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I like Richter's Bach... but it's not one of my top few choices. I prefer my Bach less "Romantic".


I do not find Richter's Bach "Romantic" at all. What do you mean? I find that listening to Richter playing Bach for me is akin to the experience of something sacred. The same I do not find in Gould, I find his playing stuffy, like he is focusing too much to get it right rather than really taking an aesthetic pleasure in it. Although he seems to enjoy it a great deal as I can always hear a hum in the background which shows his intensity. Here I am speaking only of WTC mind you.


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## tdc

pavelissa said:


> I do not find Richter's Bach "Romantic" at all. What do you mean? I find that listening to Richter playing Bach for me is akin to the experience of something sacred. The same I do not find in Gould, I find his playing stuffy, like he is focusing too much to get it right rather than really taking an aesthetic pleasure in it. Although he seems to enjoy it a great deal as I can always hear a hum in the background which shows his intensity. Here I am speaking only of WTC mind you.


I think Richter is good on the WTC - an outstanding pianist. I do prefer him to Gould, however call it what you will but I think Richter puts a touch too much gravitas in his interpretations for my tastes, I feel Bach's music already has enough gravitas built in. What it benefits more from is clarity and balance between the different independent lines, on top of this I just have to like the performer's phrasing. For piano recordings of the WTC my preference is Schiff's most recent recording posted by KenOC earlier in this thread.


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## pavelissa

tdc said:


> I think Richter is good on the WTC - an outstanding pianist. I do prefer him to Gould, however call it what you will but I think Richter puts a touch too much gravitas in his interpretations for my tastes, I feel Bach's music already has enough gravitas built in. What it benefits more from is clarity and balance between the different independent lines, on top of this I just have to like the performer's phrasing. For piano recordings of the WTC my preference is Schiff's most recent recording posted by KenOC earlier in this thread.


cheers  I 'll give it a listen. Looking for it online as I write this.


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## chesapeake bay

I'll take Rosalyn Tureck WTC, Willhelm Kempff Goldberg variations and E. Power Biggs Toccata & Fugue/ Prelude & Fugue


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## Bulldog

chesapeake bay said:


> I'll take Rosalyn Tureck WTC, Willhelm Kempff Goldberg variations and E. Power Biggs Toccata & Fugue/ Prelude & Fugue


Is that Tureck's set on DG or BBC Music? Of course, liking both equally is fine.


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## DavidA

pavelissa said:


> Why no one except me has mentioned Richter or like his recordings? What do you people think of Richter's interpretation of Bach?


Rochter said he played Bach for hygienic reasons!


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## DavidA

Goldbergs - Gould (1955)
WTC - Hewitt
Art of Fugue - Rosen


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## chesapeake bay

Bulldog said:


> Is that Tureck's set on DG or BBC Music? Of course, liking both equally is fine.


It's the DG set


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## pavelissa

DavidA said:


> Rochter said he played Bach for hygienic reasons!


He didn't say that. What he said was that, 'Listening to Bach now and then is GOOD, if only for hygienic reasons!'. 
And his opinion of Bach and how he plays Bach are mutually exclusive to debate whether his interpretation is good even if one is giving only a subjective opinion.


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## pavelissa

tdc said:


> I think Richter is good on the WTC - an outstanding pianist. I do prefer him to Gould, however call it what you will but I think Richter puts a touch too much gravitas in his interpretations for my tastes, I feel Bach's music already has enough gravitas built in. What it benefits more from is clarity and balance between the different independent lines, on top of this I just have to like the performer's phrasing. For piano recordings of the WTC my preference is Schiff's most recent recording posted by KenOC earlier in this thread.


I couldn't find Schiff's 2012 recording of WTC but i managed to find Samuel Feinberg's (



) and I quite like it.


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## Balthazar

DavidA said:


> Rochter said he played Bach for hygienic reasons!





pavelissa said:


> He didn't say that. What he said was that, 'Listening to Bach now and then is GOOD, if only for hygienic reasons!'.


On this topic, András Schiff was quoted by NPR:

_"Every day of my life, I start with playing Bach, usually for about an hour, sometimes even before breakfast! It's like taking care of your inner hygiene. There is something very pure about it."_


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## pavelissa

Balthazar said:


> On this topic, András Schiff was quoted by NPR:
> 
> _"Every day of my life, I start with playing Bach, usually for about an hour, sometimes even before breakfast! It's like taking care of your inner hygiene. There is something very pure about it."_


Yes , I think both of them feel the same way about Bach. But I am sure they both would have a different sense of purity. Richter was an altogether different kind of person from Schiff. He was very eccentric.


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## Heliogabo

WTC- S. Richter
Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould (1981)
Brendel plays Bach


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## GreatFugue

Probably a tie between Glenn Gould and Murray Perahia.


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## Morimur

Perahia. Gould was a ridiculous, selfish douche.


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## GreatFugue

Morimur said:


> Perahia. Gould was a ridiculous, selfish douche.


I'm not particularly fond of Gould either, apart from some of his recordings. But I do appreciate his enthusiasm for J. S. Bach's music.


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## pavelissa

Morimur said:


> Perahia. Gould was a ridiculous, selfish douche.


That he could be sometimes  , however, he is completely immersing on the Goldberg variations.


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## Blancrocher

I'll mention a few favorites that I haven't seen mentioned very often on the forum.

Sokolov in BWV 904 (still, alas, unavailable on disk to my knowledge):






Anton Heiller's Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor:






Leonhardt's Art of Fugue from 1969 (just a sample, I'm afraid):






*p.s.* You guys can trash Glenn Gould all you want--most of us are going to listen to him incessantly anyways!


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## chesapeake bay

Blancrocher said:


> I'll mention a few favorites that I haven't seen mentioned very often on the forum.
> 
> Sokolov in BWV 904 (still, alas, unavailable on disk to my knowledge):
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> Anton Heiller's Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor:
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> Leonhardt's Art of Fugue from 1969 (just a sample, I'm afraid):


Those were certainly worth a listen


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## hpowders

Six Keyboard Partitas, Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord.

Six Keyboard Partitas, Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord.

Well Tempered Clavier Books One and Two, Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord.

Well Tempered Clavier Books One and Two, Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord.

Goldberg Variations, Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord.


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## fjf

Morimur said:


> Perahia. Gould was a ridiculous, selfish douche.


Maybe he was. But what a pian¡st!!. So is Perahia, of course.


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## Bulldog

fjf said:


> Maybe he was. But what a pian¡st!!. So is Perahia, of course.


I'm not sure of that. When I listen to Perahia playing Bach, I hear more of Perahia playing Perahia. He's much better with Mozart.


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## joen_cph

Perahia certainly did boring stuff.


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## Krummhorn

Organ: Helmut Walcha, E. Power Biggs, Simon Preston, Peter Hurford, Ton Koopman*, 

*Koopman tends to take tempos a bit faster than my liking.


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## haydnfan

Krummhorn said:


> Organ: Helmut Walcha, E. Power Biggs, Simon Preston, Peter Hurford, Ton Koopman*,
> 
> *Koopman tends to take tempos a bit faster than my liking.


I really like Alaine. She doesn't play as freely as say Koopman, but not as traditional as Walcha. Nicely in the middle. What I have of Herrick I like even better, I wish that his set did not go out of print! I'm going to try Foccroulle's set in the future.

As for "piano" music, I recently bought the giant mammoth Hewitt set, and I've listened to the two and three part inventions three times today!


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## Krummhorn

I will have to check out Herrick. Agree with you about Marie-Claire Alain ... she should have been in my list, too.


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## Brahmsianhorn

WTC - Fischer
Goldberg - Gould '81
Chromatic fantasia/Italian concerto - Schnabel


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## Pugg

WTC- Richter (Eurodisc.)
French Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV812-817 Perahia 
English Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV806-811 Perahia


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## Bettina

Many fine recordings have already been mentioned. I'd like to add one of my favorites, which doesn't seem to have come up yet: Simone Dinnerstein's recording of the Goldberg Variations. She draws attention to the asymmetry of certain phrases, a slightly disorienting effect which appeals to me. (In fact, Dinnerstein gave the title "A Strange Beauty" to one of her later Bach recordings, as a reference to Bach's perfect irregularity.)


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## hpowders

Trevor Pinnock. Solo Keyboard Partitas. Complete.

Kenneth Weiss. Well Tempered Clavier. Complete.

Luc Beauséjour. Well Tempered Clavier. Complete.

Benjamin Alard. Solo Keyboard Partitas. Complete.

Gustav Leonhardt. Well Tempered Clavier. Complete.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

I already have some nice ones like Andras Schiff & Angela Hewitt, but I'd like Igor Levits Partitas, Richard Egarr English suites and Goldberg variations with Evgeni Koroliov. Hey, I have spotify, so long as it holds...


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## Ekim the Insubordinate

I like Perahia's recording of the Goldberg Variations.


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## DarkAngel

*For harpsicord solo keyboard:*

 Hantai - Goldberg Variations (1st recording)

 Schornsheim - WTC

 Staier - Partitas

 Rousset - French suites

 Rousset - English suites


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## bioluminescentsquid

*Goldberg* - Rannou










Runners up: Hantai #2, latest Leonhardt, Gluxam, Frisch, Staier

*Partitas* - Dubreuil










I think the one that Wim Winters is about to release is also very promising:






_Runners up: Leonhardt, Weiss_

*WTC* - Verlet on Astree (out of print, I think available as download)






_runners up: van Asperen, Leonhardt, Schornsheim, Belder_

*French* - Bob van Asperen on Aeolus (out of print, sadly)






Runners up: Rannou, possibly Cates?

*English* - Leonhardt (I'll admit that I haven't listened to the English suites as much as I should)










Runners up: Rannou, Rousset

*Toccatas*: Staier on "The early Bach", or Glenn Gould! (I haven't listened to these as much either, so no runner ups yet)

As for organ works, the best complete I can ever wish for is Koopman's!


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## DarkAngel

^^^^^ Love Rannou and buy everything she puts out.......the Dubreuil partitas sound very good, I see a purchase coming


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## bioluminescentsquid

DarkAngel said:


> ^^^^^ Love Rannou and buy everything she puts out.......the Dubreuil partitas sound very good, I see a purchase coming


He has a quite nice Goldberg (that I forgot to mention) and a somewhat-hard-to-find English suites that I haven't heard. Very fine harpsichordist - reminds me a lot of Leonhardt.


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## Pugg

Ekim the Insubordinate said:


> I like Perahia's recording of the Goldberg Variations.


Nothing wrong with that.


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## hpowders

bioluminescentsquid said:


> He has a quite nice Goldberg (that I forgot to mention) and a somewhat-hard-to-find English suites that I haven't heard. Very fine harpsichordist - reminds me a lot of Leonhardt.


She's good, but sometimes she overdoes it with too much ornamentation.

I have her French Suites-a lot of energy!


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## Pugg

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I already have some nice ones like Andras Schiff & Angela Hewitt, but I'd like Igor Levits Partitas, Richard Egarr English suites and Goldberg variations with Evgeni Koroliov. Hey, I have spotify, so long as it holds...


Wonderful played , shame almost no-one takes time to know the guy.


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## DarkAngel

bioluminescentsquid said:


> *Partitas* - Dubreuil
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think the one that Wim Winters is about to release is also very promising:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Runners up: Leonhardt, Weiss_


With harpsichord recordings the selection of actual instrument and recording technique are almost as important as the artist playing the sound can vary so much, fortunately here we have a beautiful rich sounding modern replica of a Hans Ruckers II 1624 in a spacious expansive setting, very much to my liking allowing the considerable artistry of Mr Dubreuil to shine......I do wish there was a photo of the keyboard in the booklet, overall a huge hit for me! Dubreuil has the imagination to bring these vividly to life which many are not able to for me

I have placed an order for the Goldberg variations to compliment this set.........


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## Bulldog

Ekim the Insubordinate said:


> I like Perahia's recording of the Goldberg Variations.


I also like his recording, but there are dozens of other recordings I prefer to Perahia's.


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## Pugg

Bulldog said:


> I also like his recording, but there are dozens of other recordings I prefer to Perahia's.


Come one, name a few ......


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## JB Lully




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## Bulldog

Pugg said:


> Come one, name a few ......


Harpsichord:
Beausejour
Cole
Gilbert
Hantai
Hill
Curtis
Koopman
Leonhardt
Pinnock
Richter
Ross
Verlet
Suzuki
Dantone
Payne
Rousset
Schornsheim
Esfahani
Staier
Rannou
Halls
Valenti
Jaccottet
Vartolo

Piano:
Schiff
Tureck
Gould
Koroliov
Nikolayeva
Rosen
Vieru
Propper
Crossland
Dinnerstein
Small
Tharaud
Levit
Vogt
Denk
Jalbert
Sokolov
Schliessmann
Angelich
Bloss
Ohlsson

Fortepiano:
Riemer


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## NorthernHarrier

I'm just in the process of buying and listening to some of the Bach piano recordings mentioned in earlier posts, but I can't help but notice the absence in those posts of any mention of Zhu Xiao-Mei. So far, I have only listened to her Art of the Fugue and some Gould recordings of other works, but I think Zhu Xiao-Mei sounds very impressive, to my relatively untrained ear.

In my early stages of concert music exploration, I can already see I have a strong taste for Bach piano works and will certainly collect the work of Richter, Schiff, et al., when funds permit. I'm looking forward to comparing various interpretations of Bach keyboard works....and will update my post in this thread as I hear more of them.


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## jegreenwood

Just discovered that quite a few of Blandine Verlet's recordings are available on Tidal (and as CD quality downloads at PrestoClassical). Enjoying the Inventions at the moment.


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## Crystal

András Schiff...French suites 
Murray Perahia...English suites
Glenn Gould...Goldberg variations


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