# Best harpsichord Goldberg?



## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

Looking to expand my empty Bach collection...

Any suggestions for a good harpsichord Goldberg?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

People will argue about this endlessly, but you really can't go wrong with Gustav Leonhardt, 1978.

Just checked and I have twenty Goldbergs! Harpsichord, piano, brass quintet, viols, jazz trio, string trio...


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

It doesn't seem like Leonhardt observes the repeats, and I like them a lot.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Keith Jarrett and Trevor Pinnock are my two most-played Goldbergs on harpsichord.


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

You can't go wrong with any of the above recommendations. I will add a recent recording by Aapo Hakkinen to the list.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Notung said:


> It doesn't seem like Leonhardt observes the repeats, and I like them a lot.


It's a pain, I agree--but I'll second KenOC's recommendation.

Btw, if you do downloads: 3 bucks for "The Big Leonhardt Box" on Amazon, which includes his mid-50s recording of the Goldbergs, which is also a gem.

http://www.amazon.com/Gustav-Leonha...=1403225465&sr=8-1&keywords=big+leonhardt+box

*p.s* Plenty of other gems on that Leonhardt Box. The only catch is that the download doesn't include track information, but a good samaritan, Eric J. H. Medcalf, provides all the details.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Honestly, I'm not overly fond of most of Bach's solo keyboard works played on harpsichord. I quite like Ralph Kirkpatrick's WTC on clavichord. Of the dozen or more variations I own of the Goldbergs I only have two on harpsichord: Leonhardt and Andreas Staier:










I quite prefer Staier.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Notung said:


> It doesn't seem like Leonhardt observes the repeats, and I like them a lot.


If you want repeats, Hantai observes most or all and has the advantage of a really fine-sounding instrument. All tone, no pluck. As good as a harpsichord can sound. Oh yeah, he plays very well too.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Notung said:


> Looking to expand my empty Bach collection...
> 
> Any suggestions for a good harpsichord Goldberg?


It depends on how stylish you want to go. You want without repeats; partial repeats without embellishments; partial repeats with embellishments; complete repeats without embellishments; complete repeats with embellishments?

This depends on YOU!! There's a Goldberg for every individual.

Don't thank me. It really was _Notung_ at all.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Kipnis. Kipnis. [Enough characters yet?]


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Kipnis was highly specialized. His repeats were a bit overdone and may not be enjoyed by a "non-specialized" listener.

This additional opinion by me will cost you _Notung, _by the way, so feel _free_ to use it.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I second each of the above recommendations and would add Scott Ross and Rousset.

Concerning Hantai, he's recorded it twice - the earlier one is on Opus 111/Naive, the newer one on Mirare. The Naive is quite exuberant while the version on Mirare is on the introspective side.

All things considered, my favorite Goldbergs on harpsichord is Hantai/Mirare.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

I agree about the classic performances by Gustav Leonhardt and Trevor Pinnock; a couple of other classic performances are by Bob van Asperen and Pieter-Jan Belder. But there are two more recent ones that I would especially recommend. One is what StLukesGuildOhio recommended, namely, Andreas Staier (Harmonia mundi, 2010). One other outstanding recent performance is by Blandine Rannou (ZigZag, 2013):










One of the Amazon reviewers that I have found very insightful and knowledgeable goes by the moniker Giordano Bruno. After citing some of those earlier performances, he writes:



> The last thing I expected, when I listened to this performance by Blandine Rannou, was to experience an epiphany, a feeling that all those others were just playing the notes but Ms Rannou is playing the Music. Rannou plays with flamboyant rubato and expressive phrasing, but her rubato is finely, formally conceived and intentional. It's not just romantic swooning like what you'll hear on many piano performance. Every pause and every ritardando is as assertion of a phrase, and Rannou's phrasing is potently eloquent. That eloquence comes from her treatment of ornaments and graces precisely as ornaments and graces, flurries tossed off in the pursuit of the ineffable phrase. Her breakneck tempi -- faster on some variations than on any other recording -- also serve to emphasize the phrases, the "big pieces" as it were, so that nothing is just billows of little notes tapped out athletically but rather that everything is cantabile. Every variation sings. Rannou's slow movements, beginning with the opening aria, are also startlingly passionate because they are played so very slowly and pensively. This is, as the previous reviewer declared, a passionately personal and idiosyncratic interpretation of the Goldbergs. Rannou has the fingers to carry it off, and the sound engineers for once had the technology to capture the crystalline beauty of harpsichord timbres.


I have not heard either of Hantai's two performances. The clips on Amazon of both sound excellent. I need to chase those down.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

You can listen to this live performance by Andreas Staier (looks quite recent): 




It seems like he is taking all the repeats, and I am quite impressed by the freshness of the performance (I listened until the 13th variation)


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Christophe Rousset


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Another vot for Andreas Staier on Harmonia Mundi, he has a way with the instrument that feels completely right (both musically and technically)!

/ptr


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

I heartily recommend Christophe Rousset also, who has excellent recordings of all the major Bach works.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

hpowders said:


> Kipnis was highly specialized. His repeats were a bit overdone and may not be enjoyed by a "non-specialized" listener.
> 
> This additional opinion by me will cost you _Notung, _by the way, so feel _free_ to use it.


"Overdone" suggests that they are cooked. I prefer to think of them as creatively embellished, as repeats should be. No 'old stick-in-the-mud', Kipnis.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Although, like everyone else it seems, I love Leonhardt 1976, it doesn't have any vocal accompaniment in the quodlibet, and so, for that reason, I will recommend Vartolo.

That review of Rannou's quoted in an earlier post is extraordinary.


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## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

Can't believe no one has mentioned Landowska yet.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

mikey said:


> Can't believe no one has mentioned Landowska yet.




That's because this is a harpsichord thread.


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## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

Ukko said:


> That's because this is a harpsichord thread.


Ok, I'm missing something here...


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Honestly, I'm not overly fond of most of Bach's solo keyboard works played on harpsichord. I quite like Ralph Kirkpatrick's WTC on clavichord. Of the dozen or more variations I own of the Goldbergs I only have two on harpsichord: Leonhardt and Andreas Staier:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am actually attracted to his sound. Very interesting and immersive style.


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

So many... it's tough to keep up with the Goldbergs!


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

mikey said:


> Ok, I'm missing something here...


Landowska played an instrument that only superficially resembles a harpsichord in the sounds it produces.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Winterreisender said:


> I heartily recommend Christophe Rousset also, who has excellent recordings of all the major Bach works.


I just recently got Rousset's performance of Bach's _Well-Tempered Clavier_, Book 2 (Aparte, 2013). A first-rate performance and simply dazzling sound quality. One of my best purchases of the year. This performance undercuts the claims of those who think the harpischord lacks expressive range.










A review from _Gramophone Magazine_ (March 2014):


> Rousset's harpsichord, a 1628 Ruckers ravelement, is an equal collaborator (enjoy particularly its bell-like sonorities in G major or the slightly astringent sound of the theme in the F sharp minor fugue)...He is one of the finest harpsichordists working today and these readings, while never pedantic or ponderous, feel fully studied and assimilated."


However, his performance of the Goldbergs seems to be out of print and hard to find -- though he has a couple of box sets, one with Naive and one with Decca, and it's probably there.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Notung said:


> So many... it's tough to keep up with the Goldbergs!


Yes, but because of that, there's a Goldberg out there for everybody. Some folks actually prefer it on piano; I don't.

I hope you find the right one and if you don't, you may be doomed like me to have a lot of Goldbergs, in search of that one perfect performance. 

Kipnis is very heavy on the ornamentation. I find it too distracting and overwhelms what Bach wrote-makes it practically unrecognizable. I like tasteful embellishment, but not at the expense of what the composer wrote.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Anthony Newman can stand up to any version, and I like his slightly faster tempo in the opening.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

If you find it somewhere, try Luca Guglielmi










You will be pleasantly surprised.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

At this time, I like Trevor Pinnock and Pierre Hantaï.


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2015)

I have three harpsichord recordings: Trevor Pinnock, Masaaki Suzuki, and Kenneth Gilbert. I love all three. I don't think you can have too many recordings of this masterpiece. I also have it on piano (Gould 80's, Perahia), organ (Guillou), viol consort (Fretwork), harp (Finch).


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## Faustian (Feb 8, 2015)

I really enjoy Kenneth Gilbert, surprised he hasn't gotten more mentions. And he observes all the repeats in the canons and shorter variations, I believe.


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## WJM (Mar 25, 2013)

Any opinions about Karl Richter? Some flamboyant ornamentation in Aria, and rather heavy sound of instrument, kinda reminding me of Landowska's recordings.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I had Gustav Leonhardt, back in the 70s, my introduction to the work and I played it to death. I then later discovered Piano renditions and didn't add another Harpsichord edition until recently when I found a copy of the Gilbert at a used music shop.
I never heard Karl Richter, but from what I know of his playing, he is about 1 step removed from Wanda Landowska. The Suzuki and Pierre Hantai harpsichord renditions have received fantastic reviews.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

DrMike said:


> I have three harpsichord recordings: Trevor Pinnock, Masaaki Suzuki, and Kenneth Gilbert. I love all three. I don't think you can have too many recordings of this masterpiece. I also have it on piano (Gould 80's, Perahia), organ (Guillou), viol consort (Fretwork), harp (Finch).


Gotta go with Suzuki. I think I'm becoming something of a Suzuki fanboy as the years roll by. Not so emphatically expressive but he has an unassuming vitality, with beautiful ornamentation and consistently great tempi.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Lukecash12 said:


> Gotta go with Suzuki. I think I'm becoming something of a Suzuki fanboy as the years roll by. Not so emphatically expressive but he has an unassuming vitality, with beautiful ornamentation and consistently great tempi.


Strangely I was listening to his Sweelinck recording yesterday, and in the middle of the variations on Psalm 26 I said to myself "this is one of the worst performances of anything I've ever heard." Brash and shallow.

But I agree, sometimes he is an outstanding harpsichordist and organist, especially in Bach and Buxtehude. In fact I like all the Bach keyboard stuff by him I've heard, except maybe WTC and some of CU3. I want to go back to his WTC sometime.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

WJM said:


> Any opinions about Karl Richter? Some flamboyant ornamentation in Aria, and rather heavy sound of instrument, kinda reminding me of Landowska's recordings.


Horrible. Glitzy and kitsch sounding harpsichord revival instrument.


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## shadowdancer (Mar 31, 2014)

Lukecash12 said:


> Gotta go with Suzuki. I think I'm becoming something of a Suzuki fanboy as the years roll by. Not so emphatically expressive but he has an unassuming vitality, with beautiful ornamentation and consistently great tempi.


I will echo this. Suzuki is a Bach champion.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Strangely I was listening to his Sweelinck recording yesterday, and in the middle of the variations on Psalm 26 I said to myself "this is one of the worst performances of anything I've ever heard." Brash and shallow.


I can't find any Sweelinck Psalm 26. Could it be 36 or 23?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I kind of knew I'd made a mistake there but was too lazy to check, which is not good given that I was being so critical. Anyway it was Psalm 23 "Mein Hüter und mein Hirt", SwWV 310. I'm really getting into Sweelinck, for some reason I'm enjoying the music much more now than ever before.


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## AnotherSpin (Apr 9, 2015)

Lukecash12 said:


> Gotta go with Suzuki. I think I'm becoming something of a Suzuki fanboy as the years roll by. Not so emphatically expressive but he has an unassuming vitality, with beautiful ornamentation and consistently great tempi.


 I like Suzuki's Bach very much. His playing is a beautiful example of almost complete self-abandonment of performer's ego in a link between music and listener.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

AnotherSpin said:


> I like Suzuki's Bach very much. His playing is a beautiful example of almost complete self-abandonment of performer's ego in a link between music and listener.


Ah, he never told Yoshikazu Mera that.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Strangely I was listening to his Sweelinck recording yesterday, and in the middle of the variations on Psalm 26 I said to myself "this is one of the worst performances of anything I've ever heard." Brash and shallow.


Now that we have identified the piece as Psalm 23, I gave it a listen. Also listened to a version on the Lofts label, and there's quite a difference. Suzuki's interpretation is more robust and celebratory; the version on Lofts is much more devotional. I do prefer the performance on Lofts, but I can't say that I found Suzuki's disagreeable.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> Now that we have identified the piece as Psalm 23, I gave it a listen. Also listened to a version on the Lofts label, and there's quite a difference. Suzuki's interpretation is more robust and celebratory; the version on Lofts is much more devotional. I do prefer the performance on Lofts, but I can't say that I found Suzuki's disagreeable.


It seems a really odd decision to me to play this of all psalms in such an un-pastoral, bustling and agitated way.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

DrMike said:


> I have three harpsichord recordings: Trevor Pinnock, Masaaki Suzuki, and Kenneth Gilbert. I love all three. I don't think you can have too many recordings of this masterpiece. I also have it on piano (Gould 80's, Perahia), organ (Guillou), viol consort (Fretwork), harp (Finch).


Oh btw, long time no "see" Doc. Can't believe I've just noticed that I've got you beat by one month, I'll have to start parading around that seniority, hahaha.


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## Musicophile (May 29, 2015)

Another big fan of Hantai (both versions) here.


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## WJM (Mar 25, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Horrible. Glitzy and kitsch sounding harpsichord revival instrument.


Agree about the harpsichord, I like his playing though.


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2015)

Lukecash12 said:


> Oh btw, long time no "see" Doc. Can't believe I've just noticed that I've got you beat by one month, I'll have to start parading around that seniority, hahaha.


Had you been gone for a while? Sorry - I haven't been posting as much on here as of late. Well, not in the main forum at least. Been hanging out over in the groups. I can't believe I've been on here since 2009 - going on 6 years come November. I do have you beat on post count, though!!!


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