Search - Peter Watchorn :: Johann Sebastian Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier, Book II

Magisterial

shallots | 02/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's likely that there will be many reviews of this recording popping up on the internet in the future. Book One was deservedly praised by many and rejected by a few. I suppose those that didn't appreciate Watchorn's Book One will feel the same about book two. In any case, I'm jumping on here to provide an early unlearned, musically uneducated, take on Watchorn's WTCII. Watchorn produces an awesome sound from the pedal harpsichord. Some folks might remember Biggs's Trios recording. The sound here is comparable at times except that Watchorn uses the pedal to a much more weighty and somber affect as is appropriate to this magisterial music. Watchorn's playing is meditative, reflective and reverent. I'm not knowledgeable enough to go into the individual preludes and fugues. And anyway, there is so much music here and it's so deep I think I'd have to spend hours listening to do it justice. I'm sure I will spend many many more hours with this recording in the future. Perhaps I'll remove this review when some better ones pop up. I wanted to be the first to say that this is a wonderful, magical recording. Wonderful sound and uncompromising and exquisite playing. Watchorn brings out all the brilliant contours of this deeply moving music. I'm sure this is the pinnacle of western music. Watchorn expresses the divine tremendum of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier."

New Light on a Masterpiece--Top Recommendation

Paul Van de Water | Virginia, USA | 06/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first encountered Peter Watchorn's work through his recording of the Bach concerti for solo harpsichord Bach: Concerti, BWV 972-987 - arrangements of other composers (Edition Bachakademie Vol 111) /Watchorn (harpsichord) in Hanssler's complete Bach edition. Since then I've also come to enjoy his English suites (on Titanic) J.S. Bach: English Suites, BWV 806 - 811 and his WTC 1 (also on Musica Omnia) J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier, Book 1. Watchorn tends towards larger instruments and performances that are neither lightweight nor ponderous.



Several years after his recording of WTC 1 was released, WTC 2 now appears, and it immediately becomes my top recommendation. Watchorn employs two harpsichords--a large German-style two-manual instrument and a reconstruction of a pedal harpsichord. The sustaining power of these instruments allows Watchorn to take slower than usual tempos, but the music never drags.



An ARG reviewer writes, "Watchorn goes further than any other harpsichordist I know in bringing this harpsichord music into the sacred orbit of Bach's Leipzig years. . . . One simply can't play this collection with the beguiling simplicity that works so well for its elder sibling." Perhaps that's why I've heretofore been less attracted to Bach's second set of 24 than to the first. Not any more. Watchorn emphasizes the majesty, beauty, and power of the cycle and makes it irresistable. I expect to be listening to this set very often."