Where Gould projects the music out to the listener, Kempff draws the listener in to a world of intimate and subtle sentiment. His 75-year old fingers produce miracles of colour and texture. To me there is nothing 'inauthentic' about this performance. It is authentically Kempff, a great artist, presenting us with his vision of a great work, in a reading that transcends fashion.
Eccentric and non-idiomatic reading, but it still discernibly Bach and performed by a master...and thus wonderfully enjoyable. I'm grateful to period purists who have given us scores and performance practices that bring us closer to recovering what was once given up for lost, but our Bach purists should also relax and remember that Bach is for all time instead of simply one time, frozen in amber, and has survived synthesizers, lush orchestrations of organ works, and more. It's all good.
@thelex001 The most appropriate comment here. I agree. I love Bach without (the purist way) and with (romantic way?) pedals. The beauty of Bach lays on what he wrote and if you just play the right notes it will keep on sounding marvellous forever, even if it's being played by a computer.
Haha! You have just uploaded all my early classical memories. Around 1984, this was also one of the first lp/tapes I borrowed from the library. Thanks!!
Interesting, Perfect playing. But cannot be compare with Gould's Goldberg, or Hewitt, or Argerich. The Var 1 is flat. Var 3 is too slow. This is a romantic version. Too much pedal. In my opinion, to show the "core of the issue" in Goldberg's Var, you need absolutely to show the structure. The more ascetic you are, the deeper you feel. Just like with Gould's 1981 last record. Kempff is a great piano master. But he's much better with Beethoven (of course...), Wagner, Schumann, Brahms, Mozart.
@tippi02 This recording got terrible reviews when it was released in the US and England. But from a historical point of view it is an important contribution to the archives of performances of BWV 988. And yes, a very romantic interpretation! Probably not exactly what Bach had in mind. ;-)
@tippi02 I disagree, it is more legato, and sounds less harsh than Gould's and for some reason I prefer Kempff's Bach over all, while I prefer Gould with Wagner, Beethoven, and Mozart, besides the Baroque approach toward performance allowed for improvisation.
Sorry, 74-year old fingers (in 1969)!
paulprocopolis 3 months ago
Where Gould projects the music out to the listener, Kempff draws the listener in to a world of intimate and subtle sentiment. His 75-year old fingers produce miracles of colour and texture. To me there is nothing 'inauthentic' about this performance. It is authentically Kempff, a great artist, presenting us with his vision of a great work, in a reading that transcends fashion.
paulprocopolis 3 months ago
The blue Bach at 46.13 is frightening! :D
EugenArbrakh 8 months ago
It's amazing to read about Wilhelm Kempff: romantic especially for Bach!
He said: "I'm not a romantic, I'm a classic!"
I hear here fluidity, clarity, simplicity: a great harmony in this interpretation
eutorpe 9 months ago
At first I was a bit surprised and thought "that isn't right..." but eh, the bass line is all that matters anyways, I really enjoyed it.
MortiCarthago 10 months ago
Eccentric and non-idiomatic reading, but it still discernibly Bach and performed by a master...and thus wonderfully enjoyable. I'm grateful to period purists who have given us scores and performance practices that bring us closer to recovering what was once given up for lost, but our Bach purists should also relax and remember that Bach is for all time instead of simply one time, frozen in amber, and has survived synthesizers, lush orchestrations of organ works, and more. It's all good.
thelex001 11 months ago
@thelex001 The most appropriate comment here. I agree. I love Bach without (the purist way) and with (romantic way?) pedals. The beauty of Bach lays on what he wrote and if you just play the right notes it will keep on sounding marvellous forever, even if it's being played by a computer.
esojbar 3 months ago
Haha! You have just uploaded all my early classical memories. Around 1984, this was also one of the first lp/tapes I borrowed from the library. Thanks!!
otterhouse 1 year ago
Interesting, Perfect playing. But cannot be compare with Gould's Goldberg, or Hewitt, or Argerich. The Var 1 is flat. Var 3 is too slow. This is a romantic version. Too much pedal. In my opinion, to show the "core of the issue" in Goldberg's Var, you need absolutely to show the structure. The more ascetic you are, the deeper you feel. Just like with Gould's 1981 last record. Kempff is a great piano master. But he's much better with Beethoven (of course...), Wagner, Schumann, Brahms, Mozart.
tippi02 1 year ago
@tippi02 This recording got terrible reviews when it was released in the US and England. But from a historical point of view it is an important contribution to the archives of performances of BWV 988. And yes, a very romantic interpretation! Probably not exactly what Bach had in mind. ;-)
davidhertzberg 1 year ago
@tippi02 I disagree, it is more legato, and sounds less harsh than Gould's and for some reason I prefer Kempff's Bach over all, while I prefer Gould with Wagner, Beethoven, and Mozart, besides the Baroque approach toward performance allowed for improvisation.
Qoind 7 months ago
Var. 11 beautiful, Var. 21 is haunting. The variation starting at 46:13 bears some resemblance with a Chopin piece.
paopaomanalansan 1 year ago
@paopaomanalansan YES! You are right! It also leads me to Chopin.
esojbar 3 months ago