# Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier on Harpsichord?



## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Can anyone recommend a version of Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier played on the harpsichord?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

JohnD said:


> Can anyone recommend a version of Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier played on the harpsichord?


Sure. There's the famous Gustav Leonhardt interpretation. Then there's Kenneth Weiss, a terrific American harpsichordist and also I recommend the French Canadian Luc Beauséjour. The Kenneth Weiss comes complete. The other two may be bought as Book One or Book Two or of course, both.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Gustav Leonhardt, Masaaki Suzuki, Kenneth Gilbert, and Kenneth Weiss are among the names you should sample before buying.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

JohnD said:


> Can anyone recommend a version of Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier played on the harpsichord?


I've ordered a harpsichord so that I might climb upon it and offer you a musical recommendation. Till then, you might try


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Klassik said:


> Gustav Leonhardt, Masaaki Suzuki, Kenneth Gilbert, and Kenneth Weiss are among the names you should sample before buying.


The Suzuki is a good one, yes.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

The mentioned recordings are all excellent. In addition I recommend Ottavio Dantone, Bob van Asperen, Pieter-Jan Belder, Celine Frisch, Glen Wilson, Peter Watchorn and Scott Ross.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

JohnD said:


> Can anyone recommend a version of Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier played on the harpsichord?


The first thing to say is you may want to get yourself a well tempered clavier played on a clavier which is well tempered! Like Richard Egarr's.

The second thing to say is that Leonhardt's has been remastered onto DVD audio in Japan. Normally I'm not too fussed but in this case the results in Bk 2 were such an improvement that I think it's worth seeking out if you go the Leonhardt route and you can afford it.

The third thing to say is that there are many different types of harpsichord, including ones which sound like lute. Wolfgang Rübsam has recorded both books on a lute harpsichord and the results are, IMO, very good indeed, deep and full of feeling.

I know all the recordings mentioned above apart from Frisch - I heard her play Bk 1 in concert but quite frankly I can't remember anything about the concert except that it was too cold outside and too hot inside. You can't go wrong with any of them except, I think, Ross and Watchorn. And I may be being unfair there, we shall see.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

Leonhardt's set was once considered an absolute classic, and as far as I'm concerned it still is. Most of the time I listen to the WTC, I listen to Leonhardt. A perfect combination of intellect and passion, just like Bach's music is. Among other versions I like Blandine Verlet's, which is sometimes very adventurous like many of her recordings (e.g. the Goldbergs), and is a good bet if you want some unorthodox playing, but still brilliant and compelling. Her use of subtle rubato and other rhythmic devices may be an acquired taste, though.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

SONNET CLV said:


> I've ordered a harpsichord so that I might climb upon it and offer you a musical recommendation. Till then, you might try
> View attachment 93470


I can't bear her instrument, but the performances are lively, living breathing music making as it were, with a soul. Normally I don't like old school Bach - people like Richter or Schweitzer - but she is a notch or two above I think.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Myriadi said:


> Leonhardt's set was once considered an absolute classic, and as far as I'm concerned it still is. Most of the time I listen to the WTC, I listen to Leonhardt. A perfect combination of intellect and passion, just like Bach's music is. Among other versions I like Blandine Verlet's, which is sometimes very adventurous like many of her recordings (e.g. the Goldbergs), and is a good bet if you want some unorthodox playing, but still brilliant and compelling. Her use of subtle rubato and other rhythmic devices may be an acquired taste, though.


I agree with all of this.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> The first thing to say is you may want to get yourself a well tempered clavier played on a clavier which is well tempered! Like Richard Egarr's.
> 
> The third thing to say is that there are many different types of harpsichord, including ones which sound like lute. Wolfgang Rübsam has recorded both books on a lute harpsichord and the results are, IMO, very good indeed, deep and full of feeling.
> 
> I know all the recordings mentioned above apart from Frisch - I heard her play Bk 1 in concert but quite frankly I can't remember anything about the concert except that it was too cold outside and too hot inside. You can't go wrong with any of them except, I think, Ross and Watchorn. And I may be being unfair there, we shall see.


No love for Scott Ross? For me, he's about the best Bach harpsichordist I've heard. Concerning Egarr, I find him lacking in vitality, sharpness and depth. Regardless, there are plenty of excellent WTC's on harpsichord. The probability of finding good harpsichord versions is greater than for piano versions.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> No love for Scott Ross? For me, he's about the best Bach harpsichordist I've heard. Concerning Egarr, I find him lacking in vitality, sharpness and depth. Regardless, there are plenty of excellent WTC's on harpsichord. The probability of finding good harpsichord versions is greater than for piano versions.


I would consider Staier the best (though he hasn't recorded WTC to my knowledge), but I'm always looking for additions to that claim, so I'll have to check out Scott Ross.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> I agree with all of this.


I agree, Verlet's may be my favorite, though as usual, it's tough to choose just one! I'd also consider Kenneth Gilbert and Suzuki. Leonhardt's too, is justifiably a classic.

I would also love to see more great harpsichordists take a run at the version Eggar applied in his.


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely check everyone's suggestions out.

I've been listening to a version of the Well-Tempered Klavier on YouTube that the poster identifies as his transfer of Isolde Ahlgrimm's 1953 2-LP set on Philips, but it sure sounds like a stereo CD to me.






Any ideas who this really is?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

JohnD said:


> Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely check everyone's suggestions out.
> 
> I've been listening to a version of the Well-Tempered Klavier on YouTube that the poster identifies as his transfer of Isolde Ahlgrimm's 1953 2-LP set on Philips, but it sure sounds like a stereo CD to me.
> 
> ...


I wouldn't be surprised if it really was Ahlgrimm. As for the stereo issue, I couldn't tell one way or the other.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Keith Jarrett recorded Book 1 on ECM on the harpsichord. My old boss, a pianist herself, gave me a copy of her CD. I think it's really good. Apparently he recorded Book 2 on the piano (I don't have that CD). I've seen quite a few positive reviews of this recording. Of course, Keith Jarrett haters can disregard this.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

JohnD said:


> Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely check everyone's suggestions out.
> 
> I've been listening to a version of the Well-Tempered Klavier on YouTube that the poster identifies as his transfer of Isolde Ahlgrimm's 1953 2-LP set on Philips, but it sure sounds like a stereo CD to me.
> 
> ...


I own the Ahlhrimm WTC from 1952/3. Just listened to the first prelude from YouTube, and it is without doubt the Ahlgrimm recording.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Most contenders for the WTC have been mentioned. I can add David Moroney, Christine Schornsheim, Bob van Asperen, Robert Levin and Daniel Chorzempa the two last ones using an interesting mixture of harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano and organ.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

premont said:


> Most contenders for the WTC have been mentioned. I can add David Moroney, Christine Schornsheim, Bob van Asperen, Robert Levin and Daniel Chorzempa the two last ones using an interesting mixture of harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano and organ.


Yes, I think the only one remaining (off the top of my noggin') would be Christophe Rousset's superb WTC -- among the best, or perhaps just below my utmost favorites.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Second Kenneth Weiss and Kenneth Gilbert. This is a cram packed box, including WTC, for around US$30:


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks to all for the latest round of comments!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Abd is you want something else , get the Richter set on RCA, ho harpsichord but a must have.


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## quietfire (Mar 13, 2017)

Bob van asperen. I listened to his WTK since I was a little baby. Still listening.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

IMO, this set from Peter Watchorn and Musica Omnia is the one to get. He uses a gorgeous copy of a German pedal harpsichord tuned in Bach's own specified tuning and his playing is very much in the cantabile style (smooth, fluid, singing) Bach expressly preferred. The recorded sound is superb too.


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Andolink said:


> IMO, this set from Peter Watchorn and Musica Omnia is the one to get. He uses a gorgeous copy of a German pedal harpsichord tuned in Bach's own specified tuning and his playing is very much in the cantabile style (smooth, fluid, singing) Bach expressly preferred. The recorded sound is superb too.


Until this weekend, most versions I'd heard of The Well-Tempered Clavier were played on piano (Glenn Gould and others) and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Ralph Kirkpatrick played a non-pedal harpsichord. At any rate, the sound of the pedal harpsichord on Isolde Ahlgrimm's version has been a real revelation.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Once I heard Watchorn's Bach on the pedal harpsichord nothing else quite measures up. 

I am a fan of Kenneth Weiss however and you can do much worse than his set. I also have great respect for Gustav Leohnardt's interpretations of Bach.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> Concerning Egarr, I find him lacking in vitality, sharpness and depth..


I think you're mixing up Egarr and Watchorn there Don.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> I think you're mixing up Egarr and Watchorn there Don.


I understand where you're coming from, but I find Egarr a frustrating and superficial listening experience.


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## johnlewisgrant (Mar 11, 2013)

I like John Butt's 2014 WTC (both books) recording on Linn Classical. The audio quality is outstanding. Harpsichords (and all claviers, for that matter) are very hard to record.


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## Picander (May 8, 2013)

premont said:


> Most contenders for the WTC have been mentioned.


Yes. And I can't believe that nobody mentioned Helmut Walcha.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Picander said:


> Yes. And I can't believe that nobody mentioned Helmut Walcha.


Most posters concentrated upon HIP recordings, and Walcha does not quite fit in there.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

I don't know if anybody has mentioned this one, and I know it isn't a harpsichord, but I really like Ralph Kirkpatrick's recording on the clavichord. Much more muted sound than a harpsichord - not as harsh on the ears.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Andolink said:


> IMO, this set from Peter Watchorn and Musica Omnia is the one to get. He uses a gorgeous copy of a German pedal harpsichord tuned in Bach's own specified tuning and his playing is very much in the cantabile style (smooth, fluid, singing) Bach expressly preferred. The recorded sound is superb too.


Checking it out now and it sounds excellent. Thank you


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)




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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)




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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

ArtMusic said:


>


Not a very flattering pic.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Ekim the Insubordinate said:


> I don't know if anybody has mentioned this one, and I know it isn't a harpsichord, but I really like Ralph Kirkpatrick's recording on the clavichord. Much more muted sound than a harpsichord - not as harsh on the ears.


I have that recording, though I am in two minds about it. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't - the clavichord's sound lacks richness, at least to my ears.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

AfterHours said:


> Checking it out now and it sounds excellent. Thank you


As Duke Ellington said "If it sounds good, it is good"

You're welcome.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

johnlewisgrant said:


> I like John Butt's 2014 WTC (both books) recording on Linn Classical.


Anyone else heard this one?


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Anyone else heard this one?


Yes, I acquired it half a year ago. As far as I recall he uses Lehmann's tuning. As mentioned above the recorded sound is very fine.* Butt *the interpretation is swift, bordering the hectic, and most of the time the music doesn't breath. There is also a strange matter-of-fact mood, reminding me vaguely of Beausejour's recording. I have culled it again (did similarly with Beausejour's recording), realizing that I would never want to listen to it again.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

premont said:


> Yes, I acquired it half a year ago. As far as I recall he uses Lehmann's tuning. As mentioned above the recorded sound is very fine.* Butt *the interpretation is swift, bordering the hectic, and most of the time the music doesn't breath. There is also a strange matter-of-fact mood, reminding me vaguely of Beausejour's recording. I have culled it again (did similarly with Beausejour's recording), realizing that I would never want to listen to it again.


This is very much what I expected given the performer.


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

was just listening to Martin Galling from 1964, very straightforward and bright, I guess he used a "modern" Harpsichord. Do any of the aforementioned recording's use use a restored period harpsichord? I listened to a live performance on a period instrument at the museum of fine arts many years ago that I would like to, ostensibly, listen to again


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

chesapeake bay said:


> was just listening to Martin Galling from 1964, very straightforward and bright, I guess he used a "modern" Harpsichord. Do any of the aforementioned recording's use use a restored period harpsichord? I listened to a live performance on a period instrument at the museum of fine arts many years ago that I would like to, ostensibly, listen to again


Martin Galling is playing a Sassmann revival double manual harpsichord with the stops 16', 8', 8' and 4'. Period harpsichords were as well as unknown in 1964. Galling's interpretation is relatively typical of the time of recording with equal temperature, legato articulation, rigid tempo, restrained agogics if any at all and no other variation in repeats than occational stop-change. None-the-less his style is so very "sober", and the music is displayed crystalline clear, so in the mid1960es, where only a few other recordings were available, I found his recordings quite rewarding. Since then taste has changed a lot. Most of the WTC recordings mentioned above use period instruments. Even the sound of these may differ a lot depending on size and national style. Also the tuning may differ.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


>


I listened to Rousset play the second book again last night. I must say, the harpsichord sounds wonderful! The music does sound good on Flemish instruments like this, and the sound engineer deserves a pay rise for capturing it so well.

The performances are on the whole unsurprising - mainstream HIP - as far as I can see. Über mainstream HIP.

The booklet essay is particularly illuminating on his approach. He says that, because Bach has given no indication about the character of the music, he has concluded that the pieces in WTC 2 are abstract, and that they demand a neutral approach. He says he hopes that he has, nevertheless, managed to make them sound humane. Rousset's little essay is well worth reading.

When it was released, I was hoping that Rousset's experience in opera would inspire him to give a particularly dramatic account of the music, lyrical, full of fantasy and passionate intensity.

But no.

Nevertheless there's a lot of pleasure to be had from these straight performances, I don't think he makes the music sound stiff or earth-bound.


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Several of you have mentioned Gustav Leonhardt. Did he only record the Well-Tempered Clavier once? I see more than one version on amazon.com but I can't tell if they're reissues of the same set or different recordings.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

JohnD said:


> Several of you have mentioned Gustav Leonhardt. Did he only record the Well-Tempered Clavier once? I see more than one version on amazon.com but I can't tell if they're reissues of the same set or different recordings.


There is just one recording. The transfer to get, if you can afford it, is this one

https://www.amazon.com/J-S-BACH-WEL...qid=1492232098&sr=8-1&keywords=Leonhardt+saCd


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> There is just one recording. The transfer to get, if you can afford it, is this one
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/J-S-BACH-WEL...qid=1492232098&sr=8-1&keywords=Leonhardt+saCd


One review is not so good for such a price range.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Pugg said:


> One review is not so good for such a price range.


The review is wrong.


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> The review is wrong.


The review in question complains about "overemphasized base notes."


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

premont said:


> Most posters concentrated upon HIP recordings, and Walcha does not quite fit in there.


I'm not sure what "HIP" means.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

JohnD said:


> I'm not sure what "HIP" means.


Playing on original instruments.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Playing on original instruments.


No. You could have a performance which is not HIP on an old harpsichord, and you could have a HIP performance on a modern piano. The idea is historically informed preparation - that's to say the interpretation is guided by what what's known about how the composer would have expected performers to turn the score into music.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I have mostly seen "HIP" referring to performances on period instruments played in what is (hopefully) period style. Performances in a similar vein on modern instruments are often referred to as "HIP-influenced performances."


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

KenOC said:


> I have mostly seen "HIP" referring to performances on period instruments played in what is (hopefully) period style. Performances in a similar vein on modern instruments are often referred to as "HIP-influenced performances."


This leaves no room for something like Blandine Verlet's second recording of the Bach keyboard partitas, which she plays on the Colmar Ruckers in an uninformed way. There are other examples -- Bradley Brookshire's AoF maybe, where idiomatic harpsichord expression is applied totally randomly.


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

I wanted to give an update to everyone. With the help of Amazon.com samples and YouTube, I tried to listen to all of the fine musicians that were recommended here by you knowledgeable and generous people. After evaluating the different recordings on the basis of performance, the sound of the instrument and the way it was recorded, and the price of the currently available recording, I decided to start my exploration of The Well-Tempered Clavier on harpsichord by purchasing the Celestial Harmonies reissue of the recording by Helmut Walcha. I'm most of the way through the first disc and am loving it! Thanks again to all who posted and I look forward to checking out some other versions in the not too distant future.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

JohnD said:


> I wanted to give an update to everyone. With the help of Amazon.com samples and YouTube, I tried to listen to all of the fine musicians that were recommended here by you knowledgeable and generous people. After evaluating the different recordings on the basis of performance, the sound of the instrument and the way it was recorded, and the price of the currently available recording, I decided to start my exploration of The Well-Tempered Clavier on harpsichord by purchasing the Celestial Harmonies reissue of the recording by Helmut Walcha. I'm most of the way through the first disc and am loving it! Thanks again to all who posted and I look forward to checking out some other versions in the not too distant future.


This is the one on a modern designed harpsichord by a company called Ammer.


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## Picander (May 8, 2013)

JohnD said:


> I wanted to give an update to everyone. With the help of Amazon.com samples and YouTube, I tried to listen to all of the fine musicians that were recommended here by you knowledgeable and generous people. After evaluating the different recordings on the basis of performance, the sound of the instrument and the way it was recorded, and the price of the currently available recording, I decided to start my exploration of The Well-Tempered Clavier on harpsichord by purchasing the Celestial Harmonies reissue of the recording by Helmut Walcha. I'm most of the way through the first disc and am loving it! Thanks again to all who posted and I look forward to checking out some other versions in the not too distant future.


Ah, my admired Helmut Walcha. Only his eyes were blind...


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## Doron (Apr 20, 2017)

I like it on Piano


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> This is the one on a modern designed harpsichord by a company called Ammer.


Yes, he played an Ammer Cembalo. I think it sounds great. I found this on the Internet:

Ammer was one of several German manufacturers of mass-produced harpsichords...Founded in 1927... They can be heard on nearly all of the Supraphon recordings by Zuzana Růžičková and Josef Hála, as well as early Hungaroton recordings by János Sebestyén. The Austrian harpsichordist Isolde Ahlgrimm used two early Ammers, one from 1937, the other from 1941, to record her Bach edition for Philips.

Audio examples here (click on "Ammer"):
http://www.jsebestyen.org/harpsichord/content.html


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Picander said:


> Ah, my admired Helmut Walcha. Only his eyes were blind...


Well said! And thank you for your initial recommendation of Walcha's Well-Tempered Clavier. I had thought that he recorded exclusively on organ. I'm so glad you showed me otherwise!


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> There is just one recording. The transfer to get, if you can afford it, is this one
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/J-S-BACH-WEL...qid=1492232098&sr=8-1&keywords=Leonhardt+saCd


I wish this one wasn't so pricey!


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## JohnD (Jan 27, 2014)

Andolink said:


> IMO, this set from Peter Watchorn and Musica Omnia is the one to get. He uses a gorgeous copy of a German pedal harpsichord tuned in Bach's own specified tuning and his playing is very much in the cantabile style (smooth, fluid, singing) Bach expressly preferred. The recorded sound is superb too.


I just learned that Peter Watchorn studied harpsichord for several years with Isolde Ahlgrimm.


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## johnlewisgrant (Mar 11, 2013)

premont said:


> Yes, I acquired it half a year ago. As far as I recall he uses Lehmann's tuning. As mentioned above the recorded sound is very fine.* Butt *the interpretation is swift, bordering the hectic, and most of the time the music doesn't breath. There is also a strange matter-of-fact mood, reminding me vaguely of Beausejour's recording. I have culled it again (did similarly with Beausejour's recording), realizing that I would never want to listen to it again.


Gosh! I'm going back to it! Question: which of the recordings mentioned have the same "immediacy", or perfection of recorded sound? I don't have many of the non-piano recordings, so I'm collecting.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

johnlewisgrant said:


> Gosh! I'm going back to it! Question: which of the recordings mentioned have the same "immediacy", or perfection of recorded sound? I don't have many of the non-piano recordings, so I'm collecting.


Try Frederick Haas, Rousset, Rübsam and some of the old ones sound good to me like the Japanese remastering of Leonhardt's, Asperen and Koopman. I like all these these recordings.


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## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

JohnD said:


> I just learned that Peter Watchorn studied harpsichord for several years with Isolde Ahlgrimm.


I have the Watchorn and enjoy it immensely. I only have a few of these but this one is the CD I listen to.


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