The Well Tempered Clavier

John Lewis - J.S.Bach - Preludes & Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (1998) {4CD Set, Philips PHCE-12001~04 rec 1984-1989}
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© 1984-89, 1998 Philips / Mercury Music Japan | PHCE-12001~04
Jazz / Classical / Cool / Baroque / Piano

When Wynton Marsalis made a splash as a jazz musician playing classical music, record companies sensed a winning formula. It's still nearly impossible to get an original jazz composition recorded, but all of a sudden jazz musicians have been offered the run of the Baroque and Classical repertory, ready or not. Amid the follow-the-leader frenzy, one of the more promising projects was an album of J. S. Bach pieces played by the Modern Jazz Quartet's pianist, John Lewis. Bach's contrapuntal thinking, and the strong sense that his compositions are frozen improvisations, have made him a consistent favorite of jazz composers, while the walking bass lines of many Bach pieces have encouraged jazz musicians through the years to ''swing'' Bach, an adaptation that often works surprisingly well.

Ten years ago Angela Hewitt recorded a version of The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I which dazzled the critical world and record-buying public. It was followed shortly afterwards by Book II which was similarly received. Now, fresh from her Bach World Tour - in which she performed the complete Well-Tempered Clavier from August 2007 until the end of October 2008 in 58 cities in 21 countries on six continents - Angela has made an entirely new recording of this most iconic of keyboard works.

A recognised authority in 20th century and contemporary music, Peter Hill turns for the first time on disc to another of his lifelong preoccupations – the music of JS Bach. On this new recording, Hill brings his customary scholarly acumen and crystalline musical intelligence to bear on Book two of the ‘48’ - music of ‘unsurpassed inventiveness’.

Following the enthusiastic reception of Book 1, Trevor Pinnock continues with the recordings of the second book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, exploring the summit of Bach’s intellectual and contrapuntal mastery.

After a recording of Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier that earned unanimous acclaim from the press, Andreas Staier now gives us an equally poetic and flamboyant interpretation of the first book. At once architect and colourist, he constantly varies the atmospheres, unfolding an infinite palette of musical landscapes. Under his fingers, this immense cathedral in sound is revealed in all its thrilling diversity. An exhilarating experience!

With the two books of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Johann Sebastian Bach left posterity one of the most dazzling masterpieces in the history of music. Formal rigour and musical emotion meet in perfect communion. Following several outstanding recordings of other works by Bach, Andreas Staier invites us to climb this Everest once again, but starting, as it were, with the north face, the second book, and revealing its poetry, its sensibility and its daunting architecture with the utmost naturalness.