Fugue in E Minor BWV 548 played by Balint Karosi on the Ri

[louisvonbeethoven]

Very good. Nice playing. Thank you.

[douddy21]

Bravo, toujours la même précision et la même rigueur dans le jeu. Juste les retenues nécessaires qui viennent de l'esprit et non de la technique. Félécitations d'un mélomane organistique averti surtout pour l'oeuvre de js Bach. Tempo un tout petit peu lent a mon goût. Mais bravo.

[eameece]

In this case the somewhat slower and rubato tempo brings out all the elaborate ornamentation and counterpoint very effectively. 5 stars I say!

[AlexanderZographos]

thanks for postings, you play this dramatically!

[jimbobboyorganist]

EXTREMELY FINE PLAYING AND INTERPRETATION. I stand in awe at the Master's feet! Only the jealous and resentful critisize in such a Nazi-like way: no accidents and only one interpretation--heil!

[YevgeniyAlexey]

What are the priorities?

Some minor inaccuries here and there, a missing trill here, an added trill at the other passsage? What is important is the fire. And concerning the fire Mr. Barosi delivered some really outstanding interpretations. Interpretations which are ways beyond many other established organists.

There are many organists who play the pieces. There are a very few of them who play with the piece. Mr. Karosi belongs to latter group.

[johnsteven51]

Brillant performance. Loved the rubato! Difficult to pull off in a complicated texture. Best of luck, ignore the nit-picking of people who think there is a "best performance". They obviously have no understanding of art. "In matters of taste, there can be no right or wrong." Some will always come to your performance with pre-concieved ideas & will not be accept your work for what it is. Walcha was brillant, so are you & your playing reflects more recent scholarship than Walcha had available.

[johnsteven51]

That's something I blame on the recording business. People sit at home and listen to one performance over and over, then if you're different in any way, it will sound wrong to them and they may not be capable of understanding that different artists can have different interpretations, all valid in their own right.

[robertgift]

DON'T SLUR THE WEDGE NOTES. SLIGHTLY DETACH.

Slightly too slow but still wonderful.

No trill at :37? Disappointing.

No pedal trill? Inexcusable.

Pedal reed is a little too powerful - but maybe camcorder position.

Would like contrast and relief by going to Oberwerke at appropriate locations with no pedal reed.

Wrong learned(?) pedal note at 4:00.

Wrong pedal notes at 4:56 BUT LIKE YOURS BETTER! (I always wanted to do that.)

Helmut Walcha plays this best.

Thank you for this.

[organdude2001]

Why do organist pick on eachother so damn much? What the fuck, go be critical on someone elses page or get a damn life!!!

[robertgift]

What does the brilliant statement, "get a life" mean?

[smb12321]

I love Walcha but I would bet my bottom dollar he'd never carry on about a fellow organist as you did. If you've ever been involved in recordings, you're aware of how many "wrong" notes are artificially (and miraculously) "righted" before the final product is released. Horowitz, Bough - they all do this.

This can easily devolve into a meandering mush but the excellent organization & phrasing (especially the last) prevented this. He gets kudos in my book for a rousing performance.

Bravo

[ForestChav]

Why is 4:56 so wrong? He's just adding passing notes as decoratio, the same way Koopman adds mordents to his playing...

[robertgift]

4:56 is not as written.

He is mimicking the same descending notes as in the manuals. But I like it.

If doing that at 4:56, why not also at :47?

As a teenager I tried it but never continued playing it that way because 'It was wrong'.

[ForestChav]

Question is, should you JUST play the notes on the page?

If you like it and it sounds good, why is it no different from adding lots of ornamentation?

[robertgift]

Agreed!

But not quite the same as ornamention or decoratio.

Why did Bach depart from writing the notes descending in a scale as they do in the manuals?

I was pointing out Balint's interesting change from my Peter's Edition score.

In the 9/8 C major fugue, BWV 547, about 3/4s in, I added the entire fugue subject where nonexists.

Since I memorized these works, I cannot showhere I did that.

Just listened again: Missing 3rd trill and pedal trill are very disappointing here.

[ForestChav]

I agree with *missing* trills, since Bach wrote them you should play them, but adding things which aren't written is common practice. Koopman especially does this, as does Ruebsam now.

I have a general disdain for Urtexts. I tend to play off BGA (they were far cheaper than the Baerenreiters, which I still end up adding loads of pencil markings to) or Novello. Ugh, but then I ignore any performing suggestions and listen to what others do, so the edition itself matters less.

[ForestChav]

As for what Bach wrote - do we know he did? Like the phantom D in the toccata of 565, which does not exist in the Rinck ms (poor example since it's not by Bach) but which everyone plays, because it's in their urtexts (UGH). Do we know it wasn't dictated or otherwise transferred wrongly?

Interestingly every time that subject appears in the ped, it is modified. Like in 577. Also, in my edition, the trills are not shown in any part after the 2nd entry. Maybe that is why they are so often omitted.

[ForestChav]

But then surely the idea is that you think for yourself and play them anyway. It's part of the tune.

The BGA is curious in some places (you can get it digitally).

The last bar of the pedal solo in 549 is different - the version everyone uses is printed as an ossia.

in the bridge in 551, between the fugues, there's a correct # printed above the F before the chords, which is correct.

Bar 18 is MISSING from the prel of 533, making it nonsense.

[ForestChav]

There's also a tendency to play the B flat in bar 68 of 534 as a natural... it's in neither my BGA nor Novello, I first noticed it on Alain's 1979 recording - others have added it since. (Alain plays it too in her later recordings, so it isn't an error).

BTW, I uploaded a bizarre 548 by Martin Luecker this morning...

[robertgift]

Thank you, Forest, for all of your wonderful posts.

Thanks to you, my wife and I get to hear performances we would otherwise never enjoy.

I will have to find my Kalmus miniature scores to review the items you mentioned.

Years ago I loaned out my Peter's Editions and most are still missing.

Wonder if I "play the B flat in bar 68 of 534 as a natural" and the other things you point out?

At 6:55 I just noticed that Balint does a descending pedal scale and this time PLAYS THE PEDAL TRILL!

[ForestChav]

If you want anything in particular message me. I do have a large number of Bach organ recordings.

[gibbons2000]

you fools! the pedal is obviously too loud, as the video camera is right next to the one pedal tower! it will be a completely (and balanced) story in the nave of the church!

[tuberman91kills]

Is it recorded by the camera microphones only? No other sound equipment?

[edolch]

You are amazing!

[elenisofia]

congratulations with the winning the Bach's competition, bravo! :)))))

[mannickpol]

Hello! Great job with your playing! I'd like to ask about the organ case that you play on. Have you got any web-site with the pictures and the stop list? Thanks, and best wishes from Europe!

[StefanoF87]

Wonderful, one of the fugue that I prefer.

In my opinion, the episodes may be played on the second keyboard, but it is still the idea of an ignorant.

[vizipok01]

I do not believe i making music by changing the stops. Not in this fugue in particular.

[YevgeniyAlexey]

In my opinion the 16' reed stop dominates the three other voices. The beauty, mastery and singularity of Bachs music is based on the inner part writing, which is of the same value as the soprano and the bass. So I would prefer a balanced registration to hear what is going

on there. This is just my personal understanding of how to play and how to hear

Bachs music.

[CharlieDraper]

I'd agree that the pedal is far too overpowering - it *might* just about be justifiable to use a stop like this (it sounds like an Ophicleide or something) in the da capo, but I really don't think the piece requires it.

The hesitancy identified above is also noteworthy. In my opinion the lilt between the seriousness of the subject and the joyful freedom of the episodes needs to be brought out much more. Have you heard Hans Fagius' recording? I've not yet found one better.

[s600044]

Nice one, Fagius also my favorite for the wedgie :)

[edolch]

Also take into account the mic is probably right up near the pedal division...it is a nice old tracker. So it probably sounds much more balanced out in the nave. It is a very loud stop in the loft though.

[YevgeniyAlexey]

Do not take it off, replace it by a version when you are healthy and in attack mode again. You can do it much better. I will not address the organ craftsman ship. You have two manuals. Why do you not use them? The fugue needs dynamic gradations at least in the semiquaver(?) passages. Otherwise the fugue becomes one large chunk of sound mash.

In my opinion the 16` reed register in the pedal is not adequate for the whole fugue. Use it only in the final part of the fugue.

[vizipok01]

I was very sick. I needed this recording for the Bach competition, so I am praying it is good enough to pass... But you are right I don't like it I will take it off.

[YevgeniyAlexey]

In my opinion BWV 548 is not ready for publishing. I hear a weird uncertainty and a hesitating attitude. It sounds if you are not sure how to handle the whole structure. The consistency is missing.

[vizipok01]

Thanks for comment. Can you tell exactly why you don't like the performance?

[Maxbay89]

@YevgeniyAlexey i agree