Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fischer's 'New Testament', 19 Jan 2005
I,too, had to offer a rebuttal to the earlier review that suggests the sound of this transfer from the 1930s WTCs done by Fischer was unacceptable. It simply isn't. This set, along with its companion set of the Book I, has often been in my CD player since I got it four years ago. Fischer was one of the great pianists of the first half of the twentieth century and this transfer is wonderful. Only five of the Preludes and Fugues from Book II appear in the Philips 'Great Pianists of the 20th Century,' so even if you own that, you don't have the whole enchilada. Fischer's was the first integral recording of both Books and it remains one of the great recordings of the century. Fischer's control of line and individual voices has to be heard to be believed. Further, unlike post-Gouldian Bach players, his piano seems not to have hammers. His pianissimo passages are simply ravishing. He does, at times, double the bass line as was customary in his day. This doesn't bother me at all, but I suppose some purists might sniff. We have to realize that this was a different time and for all that the advances in knowledge of historically-informed practices have grown apace, there is still a good deal of room, at least as far as I'm concerned, for playing like Fischer's. If you disagree with that, then this set is not for you. But if, like me, you respond to great playing and musicianship such as Fischer's, you won't want to be without this set and its old testament companion. Strongly recommended. Scott Morrison
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great performance, very acceptable sound, 14 Aug 2004
I felt I had to write this as a corrective to the review which would have us believe that the recorded sound as transferred here by Naxos is intolerable. I cannot comment on the quality of the original 78s. Like most people I don't have the ability to play 78s these days, even if I had the records. But it would be a great shame if anyone interested in Fischer's performance was put off because they thought the sound is terrible. It isn't! Of course there are limitations - the recordings were done between 1933 - 36, but I for one have had great pleasure from these CDs. At least we are all agreed about the quality of the performances. I tentatively bought vol 1 to hear what all the fuss was about Fischer. I have quite a few other performances of "the 48" on both harpsichord and piano and frankly expected something worthy but a bit dull. After all Bach performances from before the authentic instrument era were heavy and pedantic, right? Not a bit of it here! There is a wonderful deftness and lightness about Fischer's playing which quite simply amazed me. As for tempi, he can be as swift as any - just try the very opening prelude in Book 1 - without compromising the integrity of this wonderful music. Needless to say I bought vol 2 sharpish. There are other great performances on disc of this music, my own favourite is Tureck's BBC recording from the mid 70s (a very different approach to Fischer's), but I would not want to be without this one.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not enough "Snap, crackle, and Pop"!, 29 Jul 2008
Great performances, mediocre "restoration" in my view. Unlike all the other Naxos Historical CDs in my collection, this music has had the life squeezed right out of it. Too much processing has removed the air and life from the performance (which is certainly worth hearing though), unlike, for example, the exemplary set of Schnabel Beethoven sonatas.
Give me a bit of hiss, thumps, bangs, and scratches any day if the music lives.
What a crying shame!
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