Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: Partitas, Preludes & Fugues
Although all of Glenn Gould's Bach recordings are icons, this may be the most valuable of them. Unlike some of his Bach performances, Gould takes the marked repeats in the Partitas and adds imaginative Embellishments, as any competent player of Bach's day would have done. This practice adds a further element of interest to Gould's sparkling, alert playing, because it means we hear each section from different perspectives with meaningful performer contributions that go beyond "interpretation." The various collected short works that fill out the second CD are a worthwhile bonus, but the real meat here is the opportunity to hear the keyboard Partitas played with such Gouldian excitement. Compare these with Igor Kipnis's superlative harpsichord performances (thefirst volumehas the first, second, and fourth, and thesecond volumehas the third, fifth, and sixth) and you'll have an excellent perspective on Bach's magnificent music.--Leslie Gerber