Well-Tempered Clavier (J.S. Bach), Book 1, Kimiko Ishizaka, piano


Download this recording (MP3, WAV): music.kimiko-piano.com/album/bach-well-tempered-clavier-book-1

☛ «she is a beautiful and technically accomplished player», «the light hand in interpretation makes this performance preferable to Hewitt (the later recording on Hyperion) or Schiff (ECM, Jan/Feb 2013)»
— American Record Guide, July-August 2015

☛ «Ishizaka plays the 24 preludes and fugues with impeccable taste and technique, finding many levels of musical meaning even as she brings utmost clarity to the multiplicity of textures.», «She scales her Bach to the rhythmic, structural and sonic needs of the music, without touching the sustaining pedal.»
— Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine

☛ «A gifted and obviously devoted Bachian»
— James Oestreich, New York Times

☛ «in all the years, all the versions, I have never heard „Book 1“ done better», «The results are fabulous. There is a great grace to what she gives us, a marvelous clarity, a sense of totality that is a very real joy to hear. She takes Bach at his word, that each part is important in the ultimate contrapuntal result. You hear Bach with new ears.»
— Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review, February 26, 2015

☛ «elegant, spirited, technically impressive, and ever sensitive to the expressive character of the music», «A brilliant performance and brilliant set all around!»
— Robert Cummings, Classical.net

☛ «This is a recording to change your perception of the Well Tempered Klavier.»
— Campbell Vertesi, The Cast, March 20, 2015

C Major — 846 0:00 / 2:41
c minor — 847 4:39 / 6:26
C# Major — 848 8:22 / 9:39
c# minor — 849 12:13 / 15:12
D Major — 850 17:51 / 19:25
d minor — 851 21:13 / 22:51
Eb Major — 852 24:59 / 28:32
eb/d# minor — 853 30:21 / 34:19
E Major — 854 38:14 / 39:58
e minor — 855 41:20 / 43:20
F Major — 856 44:50 / 45:54
f minor — 857 47:22 / 50:14
F# Major — 858 54:12 / 55:52
f# minor — 859 57:58 / 59:03
G Major — 860 1:02:19 / 1:03:14
g minor — 861 1:05:50 / 1:08:03
Ab Major — 862 1:09:58 / 1:11:30
g# minor — 863 1:13:29 / 1:15:31
A Major — 864 1:17:48 / 1:19:21
a minor — 865 1:21:16 / 1:22:41
Bb Major — 866 1:26:45 / 1:28:02
bb minor — 867 1:29:59 / 1:32:26
B Major — 868 1:35:44 / 1:36:43
b minor — 869 1:38:33 / 1:41:01

This performance is by Kimiko Ishizaka, piano, recorded in the Teldex Studio, Berlin, in 2014. The preludes are from the Open Well-Tempered Clavier project, and were made using MuseScore software. Olivier Miquel is the editor. The fugues are from Kyle Rothers Lillypond engraving: open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/13106

Das Wohltemperierte Klavier / Le Clavier bien tempéré / 平均律クラヴィーア曲集 / 平均律键盘曲集 / 평균율 클라비어곡집 / Хорошо темперированный клавир

Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier (complete)


Well here it is, the «Holy Grail» and «Old Testament» of keyboard literature. It does not really make sense to post yet another recording of the WTC, and by an amateur who is barely scratching the surface of this priceless music. But hey, there is worse stuff on YouTube, and I am somewhat proud of these recordings from 2009-2014. While flawed in many ways, they are many times better than my first recording (from 2007-2008 I think).

I am much indebted to the good folks at Piano Society, especially to Andreas Pfaul, for their stern but honest feedback and their many useful suggestions which enabled me to do a much better job the second time round.

I know Ill want to improve on these one day, even the greats do. This music is so much better than anyone could ever play it — Bach is always ahead of you, beckoning, challenging, and leading the way. He is both a hard task master and a gentle teacher. Sheesh, I can get really religious about Bach :) No other composer does that to me. I would think myself weird if I did not know that many people feel the same.

I never took any video footage for these. My apologies for being a lazy sod and not providing imagery or sheets to go along with the music. This just seems too much work for such a large video. And anyway, one should concentrate on the music rather than watching pictures or checking notes against the score :) At least Ill provide the titles and starting times as usual. Let me know what you think!

Bach — Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier, Book I (ca. 1722)

00:00:10 BWV 846 — Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major
00:04:20 BWV 847 — Prelude and Fugue No.2 in C minor
00:07:33 BWV 848 — Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C sharp major
00:11:26 BWV 849 — Prelude and Fugue No.4 in C sharp minor
00:19:58 BWV 850 — Prelude and Fugue No.5 in D major
00:23:39 BWV 851 — Prelude and Fugue No.6 in D minor
00:27:03 BWV 852 — Prelude and Fugue No.7 in E flat major
00:33:34 BWV 853 — Prelude and Fugue No.8 in E flat minor
00:43:13 BWV 854 — Prelude and Fugue No.9 in E major
00:46:03 BWV 855 — Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E minor
00:49:41 BWV 856 — Prelude and Fugue No.11 in F major
00:53:28 BWV 857 — Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor
00:59:33 BWV 858 — Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F sharp major
01:03:57 BWV 859 — Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor
01:08:30 BWV 860 — Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G major
01:12:34 BWV 861 — Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G minor
01:17:32 BWV 862 — Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A flat major
01:21:17 BWV 863 — Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G sharp minor
01:26:54 BWV 864 — Prelude and Fugue No.19 in A major
01:30:29 BWV 865 — Prelude and Fugue No.20 in A minor
01:36:14 BWV 866 — Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B flat major
01:39:29 BWV 867 — Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B flat minor
01:46:01 BWV 868 — Prelude and Fugue No.23 in B major
01:49:41 BWV 869 — Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B minor

Bach — Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier, Book II (ca. 1742)

02:00:33 BWV 870 — Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C major
02:04:46 BWV 871 — Prelude and Fugue No.2 in C minor
02:09:29 BWV 872 — Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C sharp major
02:13:31 BWV 873 — Prelude and Fugue No.4 in C sharp minor
02:20:32 BWV 874 — Prelude and Fugue No.5 in D major
02:31:23 BWV 875 — Prelude and Fugue No.6 in D minor
02:35:05 BWV 876 — Prelude and Fugue No.7 in E flat major
02:40:28 BWV 877 — Prelude and Fugue No.8 in E flat minor
02:49:15 BWV 878 — Prelude and Fugue No.9 in E major
02:59:10 BWV 879 — Prelude and Fugue No.10 in E minor
03:07:06 BWV 880 — Prelude and Fugue No.11 in F major
03:13:15 BWV 881 — Prelude and Fugue No.12 in F minor
03:20:03 BWV 882 — Prelude and Fugue No.13 in F sharp major
03:25:54 BWV 883 — Prelude and Fugue No.14 in F sharp minor
03:35:16 BWV 884 — Prelude and Fugue No.15 in G major
03:39:58 BWV 885 — Prelude and Fugue No.16 in G minor
03:45:23 BWV 886 — Prelude and Fugue No.17 in A flat major
03:52:39 BWV 887 — Prelude and Fugue No.18 in G sharp minor
04:00:47 BWV 888 — Prelude and Fugue No.19 in A major
04:04:58 BWV 889 — Prelude and Fugue No.20 in A minor
04:12:10 BWV 890 — Prelude and Fugue No.21 in B flat major
04:20:14 BWV 891 — Prelude and Fugue No.22 in B flat minor
04:28:38 BWV 892 — Prelude and Fugue No.23 in B major
04:34:59 BWV 893 — Prelude and Fugue No.24 in B minor

Schubert - Impromptus / Sonatas D.664, 958, 960, 959 Presentation (ref. record. : Claudio Arrau)


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———
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) — Sonatas, Impromptus and Allegretto
Sonata in A / A-dur / La Maj, Op.posth.120 D.664
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-01:52)
Allegro moderato (00:00)
Andante (11:35)
Allegro (16:57)

Impromptus, Op.90 D.899
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (25:09-26:43)
N°1 in C minor / c-moll / ut min (25:09)
N°2 in E flat / Es-dur / Mi bémol Majeur (35:02)
N°3 in G flat / Ges-dur / Sol bémol Majeur (40:43)
N°4 in A flat / As-dur / La bémol Majeur (47:25)

Allegretto in C minor, D.915 (55:52)
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (55:52-56:18)
c-moll / Ut mineur

Sonata in C minor / c-moll / Ut min, Op.posth. D.958
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (1:02:37-1:05:32)
Allegro (1:02:37)
Adagio (1:14:16)
Menuetto — Allegro (1:22:40)
Allegro (1:26:19)

Sonata in B flat / B-dur / Si bémol Maj, D.960
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (1:36:14-1:39:51)
Molto moderato (1:36:14)
Andante sostenuto (1:56:27)
Scherzo — Allegro vivace con delicatezza (2:07:17)
Allegro, ma non troppo (2:12:05)

Sonata in A / A-dur / La Maj, D.959
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (2:20:31-2:24:13)
Allegro (2:20:31)
Andantino (2:36:08)
Scherzo — Allegro vivace (2:45:04)
Rondo — Allegretto (2:50:54)

Piano: Claudio Arrau
Recorded in 1978,1980,1982
Find CMRRs recordings on Spotify: spoti.fi/3016eVr

*COMMENTAIRE COMPLET: VOIR PREMIER COMMENTAIRE ÉPINGLÉ.*
Impromptus op. 90 D.899
Les deux groupes de quatre Impromptus chacun (D 899 et D 935) ont presque certainement été composés en 1827, et le n° I et le n° 2 de D 899 ont été imprimés peu avant la fin de 1827. Lorsque le troisième Impromptu a été publié dix ans plus tard, il est apparu un demi-ton plus haut en sol au lieu de sol bémol pour faciliter la tâche du joueur. Si un signe en croix est plus facile à lire que six signes en si bémol, la pièce nest pas plus facile à jouer. Ainsi, lintention de Schubert de faire se terminer le second Impromptu dans une tonalité mineure au lieu dune majeure, comme préparation à la tonalité de sol, est également détruite par la transposition.

Le titre «Impromptu», qui est apparu pour la première fois quelques années auparavant, fait référence à une pièce de caractère similaire à une improvisation. Comme relativement peu de matériaux de composition sont traités de différentes manières dans ces œuvres, chaque Impromptu de Schubert donne limpression davoir été créé dans un moment dinspiration créative. Mais quel soin extrême a été apporté par le compositeur pour assurer les fins développements harmoniques et les modulations! Dans le détail, les Impromptus (D 899 et D 935) montrent le compositeur au sommet de son art; ensemble, ils forment une de ses œuvres majeures.

Le premier et le plus vaste des quatre Impromptus, D 899, nest pas sans rappeler un rondo et se développe, même dans ses variations et ses prolongements, à partir dun seul thème. Le troisième, de caractère nocturne, est tout aussi dense, tandis que les Impromptus 3 et 4 sont basés sur la forme ABA. Le 2e Impromptu est suivi dune coda basée sur la partie centrale de la pièce, qui apporte avec elle la surprenante tonalité mineure.

Claudio Arrau: The Emperor (A film in English — Español Subtitulado) / The Emperor Concerto www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqFGXwomwOw

BAROQUE MUSIC FOR BRAIN POWER - HISTORY OF BAROQUE MUSIC, COMPOSERS


Baroque music is a period or style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750. This era followed the Renaissance music era, and was followed in turn by the Classical era. Baroque music forms a major portion of the «classical music» canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. Key composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Claudio Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, Alessandro Scarlatti, Henry Purcell, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Arcangelo Corelli, Tomaso Albinoni, François Couperin, Giuseppe Tartini, Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Johann Pachelbel.
The Baroque period saw the creation of common-practice tonality, an approach to writing music in which a song or piece is written in a particular key; this kind of arrangement has continued to be used in almost all Western popular music. During the Baroque era, professional musicians were expected to be accomplished improvisers of both solo melodic lines and accompaniment parts. Baroque concerts were typically accompanied by a basso continuo group (comprising chord-playing instrumentalists such as harpsichordists and lute players improvising chords from a figured bass part) while a group of bass instruments—viol, cello, double bass—played the bassline. A characteristic Baroque form was the dance suite. While the pieces in a dance suite were inspired by actual dance music, dance suites were designed purely for listening, not for accompanying dancers.
During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation (typically improvised by performers), made changes in musical notation (the development of figured bass as a quick way to notate the chord progression of a song or piece), and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established the mixed vocal/instrumental forms of opera, cantata and oratorio and the instrumental forms of the solo concerto and sonata as musical genres. Many musical terms and concepts from this era, such as toccata, fugue and concerto grosso are still in use in the 2010s. Dense, complex polyphonic music, in which multiple independent melody lines were performed simultaneously (a popular example of this is the fugue), was an important part of many Baroque choral and instrumental works.
The term «baroque» comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning «misshapen pearl». Negative connotations of the term first occurred in 1734, in a criticism of an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, and later (1750) in a description by Charles de Brosses of the ornate and heavily ornamented architecture of the Pamphili Palace in Rome; and from Jean Jacques Rousseau in 1768 in the Encyclopédie in his criticism of music that was overly complex and unnatural. Although the term continued to be applied to architecture and art criticism through the 19th century, it was not until the 20th century that the term «baroque» was adopted from Heinrich Wölfflins art-history vocabulary to designate a historical period in music.

#Baroque
#BaroqueMusic
#BaroqueHistory

Handel - The Keyboard Suites Presentation (reference recording : Sviatoslav Richter)


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———
Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685-1759) — The Keyboard Suites
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-01:48)
Keyboard Suite No.2 in F
I.Adagio (00:00) II.Allegro (03:28)
III.Adagio (05:41) IV.Fuga: Allegro (07:26)

Keyboard Suite No.3 in D minor
I.Prélude: Presto (10:02) II.Fuga: Allegro (11:04)
III.Allemande: Andantino quasi allegretto (13:26)
IV.Courante (16:57) V.Air: Lento non troppo (18:47)
VI.Presto (29:10)

Keyboard Suite No.5 in E
I.Prélude: Allegro moderato (33:49)
II.Allemande: Andantino quasi allegretto (35:37)
III.Courante: Allegro (40:24)
IV.Air con variazioni: Andantino (42:40)

Keyboard Suite No.8 in F minor
I.Prélude: Allegro (47:10) II.Fuga: Allegro (49:57)
III.Allemande: Allegro moderato (53:03)
IV.Courante: Allegro (55:55) V.Gigue: Presto (57:49)

Keyboard Suite No.9 in G minor
I.Allemande: Allegro con fuoco (1:00:05)
II.Courante: Allegro vivace (1:05:20)
III.Gigue: Presto (1:09:13)

Keyboard Suite No.12 in E minor
I.Allemande: Andante (1:13:49)
II.Sarabande: Allegro moderato (1:17:00)
III.Gigue: Vivo (1:20:05)

Keyboard Suite No.14 in G
I.Allemande (1:23:18) II.Allegro (1:25:18)
III.Courante: Allegro vivace (1:27:57)
IV.Air: Presto (1:30:55) V.Menuet: Vivace (1:32:27)
VI.Gavotte: Allegro (1:34:46) VII.Gigue: Presto (1:39:33)

Keyboard Suite No.16 in G minor
I.Allemande: Andantino quasi allegretto (1:41:59)
II.Courante: Allegro assai (1:44:34)
III.Sarabande: Andante (1:46:39)
IV.Gigue: Presto (1:50:11)

Piano: Sviatoslav Richter
Live recording in 1979, at France, Château de Marcilly-Sur-Maulne (Tours Festival)
Find CMRRs recordings on Spotify: spoti.fi/3016eVr

Handel — Complete Keyboard Suites / Grande Sarabande (Century’s recording: Eric Heidsieck) www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXOVNzTeKo

Mozart - Piano Concertos No.11,12,13,14,17,18,19 Presentation (Centurys recording : Lili Kraus)


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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) — Piano Concertos 11,12,13,14,17,18,19.
*Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-06:45)
A very big « THANKS » to Sony Music who authorized us to release this recording.
Piano Concerto #11 in F major, K.413_ I.Allegro (00:00)
Piano Concerto #11 in F major, K.413_ II.Larghetto (09:24)
Piano Concerto #11 in F major, K.413_ III.Tempo di menuetto (17:14)

Piano Concerto #12 in A major, K.414_ I.Allegro (23:04)
Piano Concerto #12 in A major, K.414_ II.Andante (32:41)
Piano Concerto #12 in A major, K.414_ III.Rondo. Allegretto (41:06)

Piano Concerto #13 in C major, K.415_ I.Allegro (47:39)
Piano Concerto #13 in C major, K.415_ II.Andante (58:15)
Piano Concerto #13 in C major, K.415_ III.Rondeau_Allegro-Adagio-Allegro (1:05:43)

Piano Concerto #14 in E flat major, K.449_ I.Allegro vivace (1:14:04)
Piano Concerto #14 in E flat major, K.449_ II.Andantino (1:23:08)
Piano Concerto #14 in E flat major, K.449_ III.Allegro ma non troppo (1:29:10)

Piano Concerto #17 in G major, K.453_ I.Allegro (1:35:41)
Piano Concerto #17 in G major, K.453_ II.Andante (1:47:16)
Piano Concerto #17 in G major, K.453_ III.Allegretto — Finale_ Presto (1:56:19)

Piano Concerto #18 in B flat major, K.456_ I.Allegro vivace (2:04:33)
Piano Concerto #18 in B flat major, K.456_ II.Andante un poco sostenuto (2:16:26)
Piano Concerto #18 in B flat major, K.456_ III.Allegro vivace (2:26:43)

Piano Concerto #19 in F major, K.459_ I.Allegro (2:34:12)
Piano Concerto #19 in F major, K.459_ II.Allegretto (2:46:43)
Piano Concerto #19 in F major, K.459_ III.Allegro assai (2:55:02)

Piano: Lili Kraus
Vienna Festival Orchestra
Direction: Stephen Simon
Recorded in 1965-66
New Mastering 2017 by AB for CMRR
Find CMRRs recordings on Spotify: spoti.fi/3016eVr

COMMENTAIRE COMPLET: VOIR PREMIER COMMENTAIRE ÉPINGLÉ.
La véritable conception du concerto, l’essence du genre consiste dans la lutte qui se livre entre lorchestre, dune part, et linstrument ou le groupe dinstruments solos de lautre. Cette lutte est entrecoupée de trêves pendant lesquelles orchestre et soliste collaborent amicalement, et elle se termine par une réconciliation; elle nen est pas moins une lutte véritable. Tantôt, les armes sont communes aux deux adversaires: ce sont les thèmes principaux qui reviennent dans les soli et dans les tuttis; tantôt, chacun a les siennes: ce sont dautres thèmes réservés au soliste, et dautres, enfin, qui nappartiennent quà lorchestre.

Les péripéties de la lutte sont diverses: elle peut rester indécise et solo et orchestre se renvoient alors les thèmes de lun à lautre; le tutti peut remporter une victoire momentanée et claironner bruyamment son triomphe; ou bien, le soliste, à coups daccords, de gammes et darpèges, peut voir ses efforts couronnés de victoire, et, dans un trille étincelant, narguer lorchestre vaincu. Mais, quelle que soit lissue momentanée, nous savons quen fin de compte ni lun ni lautre ne triomphera et que la dernière cadence scellera paix et alliance entre les ennemis réconciliés.

Or, de tous les concertos, ceux de Mozart forment le groupe le plus important. Cest une raison pour laquelle ils ont droit à une étude spéciale. Il en existe une autre. Il ny a pas, dans toute lœuvre de leur compositeur, de genre où il se soit exprimé dune manière aussi complète. Ses concertos pour piano, échelonnés à travers ses années depuis sa dix-huitième jusquà sa trente-sixième, nous le présentent à tous les âges; ils constituent le témoignage le plus varié et le plus étendu de sa vie artistique.

Nous y retrouvons ses joies et ses tristesses, ses espérances et ses déceptions; nous pénétrons par eux dans ce sanctuaire intérieur, où lhomme harassé et surmené retrouvait la vie fraîche et rayonnante qui ne cessa jamais de renaître au fond de son coeur. Dans presque tous les genres si divers où il a prodigué ses richesses, on trouve une ou deux œuvres qui comptent parmi ses plus belles, mais aucun de ces genres n’offre une succession de chefs-dœuvre aussi abondante que celle des concertos pour piano.

Mozart — Piano Concertos 9 Jeunehomme,15,16,1,2,3,4,5,6,8 (Centurys recording: Lili Kraus/Simon)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHwmL8Md22w