Sviatoslav Richter plays Bach Prelude & Fugue BWV 849

[emmanuelsott]

Moving...

[lampwithbulb2]

The tempo he choices to interpret the fugue makes me feel as there are no hammers in a piano but voices of a choir... Imagine.. How could this fugue sound, sung by a choir?...

[francescaemc2]

@lampwithbulb2

uh, Bach wrote Cantate each week, Masses and Oratori: had he wanted this to be sung by a choir, he would have written it for a choir.

[dohgrant]

You've picked, I think, one of... no... THE greatest interpretation of the Bk 1 C sharp Minor p and f currently available on CD! Go listen to all the others out there, folks. Interpretations like this gives meaning to the claim (often made) that this guy is the greatest pianist of all time. That old Bosendorfer never spoke like this!

[katiush65]

in a Goodwill (second-hand) store I found a 30-year-old cassette of Richter playing the first part of WTC-1. For 50 cents. Through the noise on the tape you can still hear the notes, clear like bells in the distance. It sounds even more haunting than perfect sound quality

[edhastie]

Incredible.

[gkollias14]

When I hear Richter playing Bach I feel that the world stops and that there is no time, unecessary sound. Richter playing Bach feels to me like the whole universe is involved and that there is a strong sense of completeness and grandness and majestical yet not 'grandiosso' .

[guscaldas2]

@gkollias14 yes

[broodsable]

The best of the best.

[KyougetsuYoru]

nice

[blababshik]

Bravo!

[unownkiller]

One of the best pianists. Hands down.

[harlowfarblast]

I agree with lyubomirgt that the tempo here is right on. When it's done too fast, I believe the interdependence, especially of the two fugal themes, get's lost. I also agree that on the whole the sustain seems excessive. However, there are places toward the last half where the themes are difficult to emphasize without seeming choppy, and having the sustain help with those areas makes it seem reasonable for sake of consistency to keep it throughout that section rather than come in and out.

[guitarfan1979]

what would I give to actually hear Bach playing this himself

[MusicPredominates]

@guitarfan1979 : There is nothing you can give. Bach would probably be not even interested in comprehending you (or I for that matter) !

[svatekl2]

my name is svitoslav to

[lyubomirgt]

One of my favorite fugues by the Master!!! Great performance, this is the real tempo of the fugue, giving the player a better opportunity to underline its two themes and the movement of the voices, and not played like an etude the way Gould performed it. The only thing I didn't really like here is the excessive use of the sustain pedal, which blurred the voices imho, but I guess Richter was trying to recreate church acoustics, suggesting even more sacred and deeper meaning. I love Bach!

[yumeybaconcutout]

@lyubomirgt it actually had 3 themes. well at least i count the third.

[develish16]

3 dislikes.... what the hell is wrong with people nowa days.... how could someone hate this...... the very loud music of today is making people musically deaf !!

[hissetveoyna]

perfect..

Thank you Richter..

[TheMauthe]

eccellente interpretazione

[jlynem]

Wow, much more meaningful than Gould. RIchter had as profound a soul as Bach, and he played like it.

Now f you'll excuse me, I'm going to go purchase this recording.

[mtlhoma]

no god, no man, no music. only richter.

[ChristophePhilippe]

Glenn Gould was all about himself. His music-making was striking, but it was all about his ego. The music was an instrument to illuminate his personality. He never subordinated himself to the music. Richter goes into the subtext.

[gouldaddict]

Is this the recording in which Richter played on a Bösendorfer? Whatever it is, this piano sounds slightly "softer" than the Steinway.

[maxico123]

@gouldaddict

This is indeed the Bösendorfer. Recorded in 1972/73 at Schloβ Klessheim in Salzburg, Austria.

[gouldaddict]

@maxico123 Thanks a lot!

[bratupir]

Whenever I listen Richter playing I have the sensation that I listen a music lesson with the a great teacher that explain me the very esence of music.

[sdgpiano]

I didn't realize how rushed my own choice of tempo was until I listened to Richter. His pacing is dictated by clarity; if not all the voices are distinct then it is too fast. There is a timelessness in this performance that has strongly impacted me. My thanks for posting this treasure.

[buenobus]

coming from an anti-dogmatist such as myself, Richter is certainly someone i would regard as a priest of music.

[darmbon]

I meant truecrypt comments ofcourse

[darmbon]

c# - b# - e - d#

best abstract work ever (for me)

3 (trinity)

4 (notes)

5 (voces)

bach was an architect. pyhtagoras: A=3 B=4 C=5

haha ok, just messing around because I liked Camiers comment about being simple while quoting some latin :P

[efitzger76]

Stop comparing genius when you could be witnessing it.

[uptilthesky]

Richter was an enigma, you never know what to expect from him, he surprised me here again.

[Irshkboy]

Ricter plays it like a true Russian. I can hear it clearly=). I can tell by how much he emphasises certain notes.

[eqdmuf]

@Irshkboy I have to agree. I have a mother from the Soviet Union (who plays piano). When a "true Russian" performs one imagines them singing on a cold day with snow on the ground crunching under the feet of those passing by with their chins hidden in their jackets...

[cynic150]

One of the greatest works of all keyboard music played by one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century.

The sound quality is not good, but the essence comes across all the same.

[Markohoppis]

Truecrypt the encrypting software?

[hfc1428]

Richter's emotion and atmosphere is very rich and deep. On the other hand, Gould has a very sharp musical appreciation on every notes and chords of Bach.

[graphicgratitude]

Bravo...!

[gerhold101]

We all hear what we wish to - it's entirely subjective that a playing style imbues us all with a singular emotional response. Bach was a religious man and, to me, something spiritual comes through in the notes. But I am irritated and bored by the constant use that individuals, seeking argument and discord, make of Bach and his God and make of the interpreters of his music. Technical comment is appropriate but this provocation and retaliation is reminiscent of a school playground.

[vova47]

@igitur07 Do you mean Gulda? If so, yes

[KABRIS1]

He makes the piano sound harplike.

[cluny]

Bach's music was 'For the glory of God and refreshment of the soul of man'. A nominal atheist playing Bach may be a subversive way to communicate this glory. Only God knows. soli Deo Gloria

[elpoderdelasgalaxias]

Richter or Gould / Gould or Richter ??? BOTH OF THEM.

[89dan98]

Richter rocks at Bach!

[paradoxicus]

Es bonito el comentario de @tzeleustremlennost,pero Gould...es Gould.Toda comparacion lleva a un error,aunque sea con imaginacion y retruecanos.

[tzeleustremlennost]

I think , that it is necessary for interpreter to find the same love and tenderness to the brother, that Bach felt during the composition of this play.

Bach loved the God which loved people, his music is filled by the Christ.

Richter loves the MAN more than music, and Gould loves music more than MAN.....It is a big difference.

[truecrypt]

@tzeleustremlennost

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem - Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.

Be simple.

[IpsaPaphum]

@truecrypt "Be simple"

Thank God (pace Occam) Bach dared to be complex :)

[dragmio]

@truecrypt He actually was simple. And spot on.

[truecrypt]

@dragmio

Yes - “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

[alexggable]

Well a thought is just that, it's your opinion.

What I've found in Richter's playing (no need to look at his biography) is that Richter loved music above all, he lived for music so did Bach and Gould definitly.

The difference between RIchter and Gould is just your personal appreciation, it's subjective, personal. The sum of all expressions give us only a conventional parameter. Under that point of view, Richter surpasses definitly Gould

But then again, tha'ts only my opinion.

[gr0mithtimon]

@tzeleustremlennost

blablabla. that must be the ultimate rationalisation of style: the creator of the universe is behind it all. take your god somewhere else and leave my music alone.

[JoePassIsMyIdol]

@tzeleustremlennost This comparison of Richter and Gould is quite profound. I agree.

[tzeleustremlennost]

@JoePassIsMyIdol I have changed the opinion. Richter and Gould - everyone brings individual note in music, but Richter surpasses, because he has more interests to spiritual trues and compassion( highest purposes in person).

He spoke surprisingly about Maria Yudina :"Whether you know : how wonderfully she reads verses of Pasternak! But, in fact, she absolutely does not have teeth". Richter - the great man.

[pozsoz]

@tzeleustremlennost: richter's intepretations are disciplined and (in richter's own words) "the interpreter should just do his best to follow what the composer really wrote" , thus accepting the composers will and expressing what the music for itself meant. If your listen to gould's repertoire you'll find his interpretations are full of self-imposed mannerisms, it seems he is desperate of making the music about himself, that's why he's good but not great

[KABRIS1]

@tzeleustremlennost Jesus said judge not lest ye be judged". The spirit of the music does not recognize your subjective, comparitive analysis. The real difference between Bach and Gould & Richter is, they bring Bach's music to life, through transforming written manuscripts into audible sound. Stop judging and start listening to Gods messengers of music, Gould & Richter.

[martimtavares]

@tzeleustremlennost You shouldn't dare to guess what richter loves or loves not. He's not here anymore to say what he thinks or feels, so we must simply shut and absorb what he left

[maasai123456789]

@tzeleustremlennost : sorry -but Richter only loved music, he once said he played only for himself and also that everything in life was so difficult, except for music.

Read his biography and see "The Enigma", also on YouTube.

[MusicPredominates]

@tzeleustremlennost : Your statements cannot be authenticated.

I think Gould slightly a nutter by will. Richter a nutter eventually by accident.

[uemciicmeu]

@tzeleustremlennost WOW! Don't know enough to know if that's true, but what an amazing analysis~

[gouloum2222]

@tzeleustremlennost what do you mean by richter loves "the man" more than music ?

[atzitzikas]

@tzeleustremlennost Gould performed with his spirit inside and because of that he almost didn't played bach. Richter plays almost the same way but inside the rules, that don't changes nothing cause prelude and fugue when written didn't meant to be played that way and If somebody hears it seems from gould something comtemporary and from richter something from romantic period.

[ChristophePhilippe]

@tzeleustremlennost Glenn Gould was all about himself. His music-making was striking, but it was all about his ego.  The music was an instrument to illuminate his personality. He never subordinated himself to the music. Richter goes into the subtext.

[gatomjp]

@ChristophePhilippe I agree!

[jojobruin]

@tzeleustremlennost What a humanist approach to Bach. Stark contrast to the austerity of Glen Gould. Did he find solace and expression for his unfulfilled personal life in his music?

[KhagarBalugrak]

@jojobruin, exactly. This is far better than Glenn Gould. Bringing out all the expression like Richter does here is the way to go.

[SiavashPiano]

@tzeleustremlennost when retards go deep...

[KhagarBalugrak]

@tzeleustremlennost, this is some of the most moving playing I've ever heard.

[francescaemc2]

@KhagarBalugrak

please most the other moving playing you have heard. I respect your taste!

[KhagarBalugrak]

@francescaemc2, unfortunately, it's not on Youtube except as part of an interview. Analekta has a CD of Rameau's Pieces de Clavecin en Concert with Luc Beausejour as the harpsichordist. If you want to hear great music, I would suggest that. Or you could buy Marie-Claire Alain's last recording of all the Bach organ works. And then there's Scott Ross's recording of the Bach partitas. Oh my....what a treat.

[KhagarBalugrak]

@francescaemc2, Scott Ross playing the Bach partitas is something you can find on Youtube. Marie-Claire Alain's last Bach organ recordings, however, are not on Youtube.

[DarianHarman]

Richter at his very best. I just love his punctuation; especially at this tempo. The subtlety within the exaggeration---it took me a while to understand this performance (months). I hope I'm not ruining it for anyone.

[szender2021]

What is this recording??

[f1Nazayu]

introspective, philosophical, profound expression.

[vivascargill]

I saw him play twice--I prefer Gould but Richter is splendid

[TheJmd441]

Richter's take on fugue849 is...deep&beautiful.

Sometimes you have to throw the metronome aside; some-

times you have to lay the pedal down.

[Camier]

zzzzzzzzz....the prelude ok, but honestly, I was lulled into sleep literally by the fugue.

[truecrypt]

Seems like you woke up just to post quite an unintelligent comment. You'd better keep sleeping.

[Camier]

sorry (people seem always to take a comment so immediately personally - sheesh)I simply find Gould more "awake" on this issue......as I said before, the prelude I found sensitive but the thread of the fugue was simply drawn out far too long....but any "intelligent " counter-comment is welcome.

[Terrdemarzielle]

@truecrypt The fugue did sound a bit too relaxed for my tastes.

[jimloomb]

@truecrypt

I dont know if being lulled to sleep by bach is a bad thing truecrypt. I dont think he meant anything malicious.

[truecrypt]

@jimloomb

I think he meant what he meant... and I simply didn't like it.



[avenancius]

very ignorant ;D u want fast up beats? go watch 50 cents nigger! xD

[gerryrains]

To quote Ricther,

"The interpreter is really an executant, carrying out the composer's intentions to the letter. He doesn't add anything that isn't already in the work. If he is talented, he allows us to glimpse the truth of the work that is in itself a thing of genius and that is reflected in him. He shouldn't dominate the music, but should dissolve into it." So if you have a problem take it up with Bach's ghost and not with Ricther's.

BTW: I liked this performance :D

[Camier]

that's what one would "ideally" wish in an interpreter....but the problem immediately arises in the piano as executing instrument - richter obviously thought bach would have used the sustain pedal, etc.....on and on.

my opinion is simply: gould and bach make the composer's intention clearer, basta. as to gould and mozart´(or most other composers), no.

perhaps pianists should try to limit their archive of recordings....neither of these pianists had any self-control here.

[Camier]

(i.e. not all is gold that glitters.....)

[kempff95]

Remarkable .

[shirane5]

すごい！

なんでか知らないが不覚にも涙、、、、、

[organman52]

Pure lyricism - just as Bach intended. And what's even better - there is not a trace of 'interpretation' in Richter's playing.

[cathalcom]

i wonder what you mean by interpretation. on one reading what you just said seems impossible.

[riceboii101]

Chopin was fond of Bachs music also.

[koliatima]

C'est un moment toujours merveilleux que d'écouter Sviatoslav Richter notamment dans ce Prélude et Fugue de Bach.

[TheGravicembalo]

great sviatoslav!!!

[vonMohl]

When a master of composition meets master of execution. A timeless meeting.

[scriabinopus9]

@vonMohl exactly

[beethomozart]

this the 4th prelude and fugue out of the 24 that compiles this masterpiece which is the WTC written by one of the greatest of them all, the Leipzig Kantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, written for study purposes it turn out to be a colossal work, published during the XIX century not while the author was alive

[wolffrankenstein]

"Note that in Bach's time, compositions could circulate in manuscript and be copied by hand, which sometimes amounted to publication, for example the Well-Tempered Clavier was considered "published" in this fashion years before it was printed the first time (all long before copyright even existed)."

-Wikipedia

I'm pretty sure Beethoven played the WTC at recitals quite often throughout his childhood, which would at very least make it the XVIII century...

[wcbroccoli]

Numerous copies of Bach's works were made by students & colleagues DURING his lifetime. Already before 1750 some of his works were available in Austria, Italy, France & England. In April 1750, the famous Padre Martini (who taught Mozart and J.C.Bach) wrote "[Sig. Bach] is thoroughly known and admired not only in Germany but throughout our Italy...I think it would be difficult to find someone in the profession would could surpass him...he could rightfully claim to be among the 1st in Europe."

[wcbroccoli]

Mozart was well-acquainted with WTC and AoF. In 1782 he arranged for strings 5 fugues from WTC and AoF.

In 1783 a magazine article reported that the 11-year old Beethoven played most of WTC and "anyone who knows this collection of preludes and fugues in all the keys...will know what that means."

When Beethoven came to Vienna in 1792, it was his superb playing of WTC that first established his reputation there.

[missuisse2008]

Richter reste décidément mon pianiste préféré! pour moi, l'écouter est un bonheur sans limite! En plus, il est très complet, il joue tous les répertoires magnifiquement! Le plus grand!!!! Surtout dans le "Wohltemperierte Klavier" de Bach

[Laurentpiano9]

Versions of gould and richter of the wtc are really sublime .. and complementary, in my opinion there isn't a better version between them.

[pyrrooo]

@Laurentpiano9 but there are better versions beside them! Masaaki Suzuki, for example

[Ecthelon]

It feels like he's playing on an organ.

[mltube]

You hit the nail right on the head, Ecthelon. Not just this, but all Richter's Bach sounds like it is being played on organ, and especially the WTC. Even the acoustics of this recording is the one of a church.

[truecrypt]

If I recall correctly WTC was recorded in church, in Austria on Bosendorfer.

[mltube]

Sure, truecrypt, and that is where the church acoustics is coming from :-) This particular recording was criticized by many reviewers for its sound, which they claimed to be not piano-like, without realizing the recordings intent. But the acoustics adds little to this organ impression, as I always have it, listening to Richters Bach, including his other WTC recordings, from the concert hall.

[martinpklehmann]

In fact the recording was made in a castle (Schloss Klessheim near Salzburg) in August/September 1972 and February 1973. And yes, he played on a Bösendorfer.

[schubertismyhomeboy]

sublime

[lurdanhelhart]

Evokes all at once a sense of absolute loss and absolute absolution, an ethereal ambivalence so painful and so beautiful it has to eat itself not to starve.

[degenericni]

now you gotta have some serious cojones in order to say "absolute absolution"

[kknots]

Everything Richter plays sounds magical and very quiet. If you listen through all his pieces from WTC you will awake after 3 hours and feel like gonna sleep more.

[frapesdrinker]

best version i've ever heard, of this awesome work! thanks very much for the upload!

[camasta23m]

I believe there is a tragic story behind this prelude and fugue...his wife's death or son's or something.

[visionbach]

If you lay the first four notes side by side,

as they are written on the note-lines, you get the sign of a c r o s s ! Maybe that´s where the magic of this piece comes from!

[visionbach]

I mean the first four notes of the fugue,

giving the cross-sign.

[thejugglenaut91]

nutcase. The fact that four notes at the beginning happen to resemble a crosse to YOU, just totally covers up for the whole fact that the entire composition is utterly amazing. Pitiful.

[Amoremio85]

This is my favorite.... There is something about this song.....

[amadeuswebern]

Awesome.

[Iaparulava]

I think that Bach in Hands of this genius man is more philosophical journey in the matter and substance but in the hands of Gould is transcendence though the universe....

[LVG31]

And I closely know a gal who turned pages to Richter! And it's not a joke.

[Markohoppis]

I know a guy who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man who studied with a man that studied with BACH!

[truecrypt]

Wow!

It reminds me an old joke about husband catching his unfaithful wife...

Woman pointed to her lover saying: Darling, don't kill him - he's seen Lenin himself! ;)

[gorgonzola27]

MARKOHOPPIS.I WANT TO STUDY WITH YOU!

[ohogobongo]

nice chain:)

[Lucithen]

heh. Theres this book, i remember reading there that everyone, through friends of friends of friends etc...knows, like, every 5th person in the world. its amazing.

[pianopera]

How very strange, no women involved? ;-)

[wis1956]

Wykonanie wspaniałe. Gould jest cienias.

[pjioayncoe]

Is there a recording of the WTC 2 No.18 in G sharp minor, BWV 887?

[truecrypt]

Yes, all 48 were recorded. If I recall it correctly, Richter did this recording in Austria, using Bosendorfer.

He learned all 48 during WWII in Tbilisi. There are several earlier recordings of P&F too.

[karakallatore]

Richters WTK Is by far the best...

[ragtimemarkbirnbaum]

fantastic version of prelude and fugue -

beautiful pacing and tempos -

thx

[luvmoosic]

Wow. This is one phenomenal interpretation of this prelude and fugue! I LOVE this prelude and fugue! What a POWERFUL performance.

[jewish1972]

no me ha acabado de gustar esta version. A partir de compas 59 casi todas las apariciones del tema 1 las hace demasiado fuerte, en especial en el climax de compas 100. Retarda demasiado pronto, en 110, y demasiado, para compas 112 y 113 ya va lentisimo

[dermann76]

Estimado jewish1972. ¿Que interpretación (versión) me recomiendas?. Saludos : )

[jewish1972]

esta es muy buena. Yo tengo una (no me acuerdo del nombre del pianista) mejor.

[smalin]

It's remarkable how he makes the voices of the fugue more and more distinct as the texture gets more and more complex. A revelation.

[seahyimin]

interesting way of playing the fugue in a slow and grand manner

[seahyimin]

there is something special about this:

it's slow enough and clear enough for us to hear every note and richter even emphasised the parts where the c# b# e d# motif comes in

[sam0xin]

There is a 2 MASTER - Interpreters of BACH's keybord works in the Globe: WAS and STILL so far ...In west Globe - Gould, In East Globe - Richter( 1 detale: Richters range of performed composers was  rather wide )

[RabidCh]

There are more than that...

Try Samuil Feinberg, Tatiana Nikolaeva, Edwin Fischer, and Maria Yudina.

3 from Russia and 1 Swiss. All very good though.

[KidTunder]

Not to forget Evgeni Koroliov. Probably the best lving Bach pianist.

[mullahsoutnow]

revolutionary playing for the Russia of the time... he never fails to create magic...

[jeffouNSHS]

i think richter does a more luminous interpretation than gould - still very much Bach, and without the articulation, but still beautiful

[pianofolle]

yes,i fully agree with u. im a fan of gould, but here, like elsewhere in bach, richter has more to say with his beautiful sound. I can only remember 2 or 3 pieces of his bach that didnt amaze me

[radurak]

I agree, richter, while not exactly a fantastic bach interpreter (imo), is very convincing here. Together with goulds one of my favourite recordings of this fugue.

[suzettegm]

And I love this picture of S.R. by the way.

[mltube]

The one in green jacket and a wig?

[suzettegm]

sure, the candid camera one!

[suzettegm]

Richter convincing himself that this is the way to do it. And it works exceptionally well here.

[clyfton]

I agree. Somehow it takes.....balls (is actually the word I'm looking for here), stretching that last ritardando as far as he did!

He did great, absolutely great!

[suzettegm]

Yes, you chose the right word, well Richter may have lacked some things (for some) but it sure wasn't balls!

[smithsherman]

Richter not only makes a point of interest of the gestural-connectivity...like the others excepting Gould...but creates interest in the motif itself.Richter's my favorite here.

[cziffra1980]

"Gestural-connectivity"? Does that have any particular musical meaning, or is it just another term you have invented for yourself?