J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Klavier - 48 Preludes and Fugue
Idil Biret Archive
CD
$45.99Apr 04, 2025
The centerpiece of the Bach collection is a 2015 recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier, the so- called old testament of piano music, a series of 48 preludes and fugues in all of the piano's possible keys. A look at that monumental collection's recorded history could serve as a compendium of piano performance styles through the last 120 years. Unsurprisingly, Biret conforms to none, and perhaps the best way to describe her interpretations is orchestral. As the historically informed Baroque practitioners prescribe, each prelude and fugue certainly has a distinct character, but those long lines emerge with the definition of strings, brass or winds, lush and strident by turn. Trills are mellow and exquisitely shaped, and a wealth of detail is present but never exaggerated. Biret's Bach is a cliff wall to be scaled, a peak to be reached and an aspiration to be achieved.
On his 2025 album, Canadian star pianist Jan Lisiecki brings the diverse sounds of the prelude to life, highlighting that it is far more than just a curtain-raiser to something else. Frederic Chopin's extraordinary 24 Preludes Op. 28 are inspiration and centrepiece of this recording. For Lisiecki, Chopin was a "master of the short form" who "brought the prelude out of the shadows and into the spotlight." Chopin's pieces are complemented and contrasted with selected preludes by other composers from across three centuries, each representing a pinnacle of achievement in the genre - from Bach, Messiaen, Rachmaninoff to Gorecki. Lisiecki seeks "to showcase the broad possibilities of the humble prelude" that takes "the audience on a musical expedition" through these kaleidoscopic miniatures.
Bach: Preludes & Fugues on the Organ of the Zurich Grossmünster / Vollenweider
Tudor
CD
$19.99Apr 15, 2022
In building the organ for Zurich’s Grossmünster in 1960, the firm of Metzler Orgelbau set a benchmark. Every well known organist wanted to play on this instrument. Hans Vollenweider, organist at the Grossmünster from 1970 to 1986, recorded the works of Bach over several years. The unique musicality and masterly technique of Vollenweider's interpretations are delightful. The spontaneity, immediacy and vividness of his recordings, available for the first time in this format, remain compelling. The present release features J.S. Bach’s Preludes and Fugues BWV 539, 541, 543, and 545-548.
Explore the cutting-edge fusion of tradition and technology with Preludes Tableaux, the latest album by visionary composer Johannes Motschmann. In this groundbreaking work, Motschmann collaborates with a custom-built AI, uniquely designed and meticulously trained to understand and replicate his distinctive compositional style. This is no ordinary AI; it was created specifically for this project, using a vast dataset of Motschmann's previous works to shape it's creative output. Each track on the album is the result of a dynamic interaction between Motschmann's human intuition and the AI's computational creativity, blurring the lines between human and machine-made music. The result is a compelling blend of organic and synthetic artistry that redefines musical collaboration. To enhance the sonic depth, the album was recorded using iconic analog instruments such as the Steinway D, Yamaha CP 70, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, creating an immersive and rich soundscape. Alongside Motschmann's original compositions, the album features faithful, original renditions of classical works by Bach, Schonberg, Skrjabin, and Alain, offering a journey that bridges the gap between the historical and the contemporary.
Julia Bartha writes of her new release: "Thorsten Encke has created a wonderful collection of extremely associative and clearly defined character pieces with his Aprèsludes. The multi-layered music fires the imagination and is a rewarding challenge for listeners and pianists alike. I very much enjoyed working on these pieces; they are not only a real pleasure to play, but also take me on a wonderful journey on which I can encounter Debussy. From D'autre part via Ombres-tristesse, Un beau brin de fille, Monsieur Croche-Double Croche and Cloches up to the impetuosity of Bateau-ivre we are repeatedly confronted with extreme opposites. Spontaneity and freedom are juxtaposed by mechanical severity. Individual motifs from Debussy's Préludes flash up. The subtlest pianissimo passages, tender glissandos and bell-like sounds are 'pushed aside' in the next movement by brusque martellato chord clusters, and the consistent utilization of the sostenuto pedal leaves behind vibrant traces of sound. An intensely individual music, which perpetuates Debussy's concept of new tonal aesthetics in our time." First prize-winner of the 'Jugend musiziert' competition, finalist at the Clara-Haskil Competition in Vevey/Switzerland, and prize-winner at the Gian Battista Viotti International Music Competition in Vercelli, Julia Bartha achieved the leap on to major podiums of the German-speaking and wider international world at an early age. She has appeared at numerous festivals, and her unique profile as a concert pianist is highlighted by the refreshingly unconventional ways in which she bridges the gap between different forms of artistic expression.
Now I have this conscientious and exquisite work in my hands, Prélude, which contains a series of musical pieces inviting us to define the pianist both for his selection and for his interpretation. If we listen to them attentively, we are revealed the performer's personality. Here is the delicate spirit that is born from the respect for compositions and the art of combining it with a passion which is increasingly evident in him, a more determined and mature, almost daring. The playing of these notes in the hands of Antonio Galera is not based on an exhibition of skills that are no longer questioned but on the talented flow of music, which turns simplicity into poetry and passion into what is most difficult in it's development. (Elvira Lindo, journalist and writer)
Explore the cutting-edge fusion of tradition and technology with Preludes Tableaux, the latest album by visionary composer Johannes Motschmann. In this groundbreaking work, Motschmann collaborates with a custom-built AI, uniquely designed and meticulously trained to understand and replicate his distinctive compositional style. This is no ordinary AI; it was created specifically for this project, using a vast dataset of Motschmann's previous works to shape it's creative output. Each track on the album is the result of a dynamic interaction between Motschmann's human intuition and the AI's computational creativity, blurring the lines between human and machine-made music. The result is a compelling blend of organic and synthetic artistry that redefines musical collaboration. To enhance the sonic depth, the album was recorded using iconic analog instruments such as the Steinway D, Yamaha CP 70, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, creating an immersive and rich soundscape. Alongside Motschmann's original compositions, the album features faithful, original renditions of classical works by Bach, Schonberg, Skrjabin, and Alain, offering a journey that bridges the gap between the historical and the contemporary.
The 6 Trios by J S. Bach, as originally described in the surviving manuscript bears the name of neither the arranger of Bach’s pieces nor the composer of the slow introductions. Despite that, it has long been supposed that it was the work of W. A. Mozart. As far as we can trace, it was Wilhelm Rust, the editor of the volume 9 of the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, who in 1860 first made this connection. A more recent scholarship has identified many details that help us understand the complex backgrounds of these textual deviations found in the surviving manuscripts originated from Vienna in 1770-1800. Each Trio consists of a slow introduction and a fugue. While it retains Bach’s original prelude-fugue design, the keyboard prelude was replaced with something more suitable for string ensemble. In a sense, the arrangement has a close affiliation with the Baroque Sonata da chiesa (i.e. the first two movements of the four-movement set "slow-fast-slow-fast"), the genre, which represents the repertoire of the past, appears to have been much appreciated among the connoisseurs of music in the late eighteenth-century Vienna. The slow introduction typically begins in the tonic and closes in the dominant, so that the main piece, the fugue, can begin in a well-prepared mood. Similarly it makes use of the melodic material that hints the ensuing announcement of the fugue subject. Thus the introduction unfolds in such a manner so that when the fugue subject appears ceremoniously, one feels that at last a show has begun
The Japanese-born pianist Kenji Miura, winner of the 2019 Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris, ponders on the issue of identity, combining music of the French school with two pieces by Toru Takemitsu, a Japanese composer strongly influenced by French composers and by the Second Viennese School. The main works on the album are Franck's Prelude, Fugue et Variation, Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales and Debussy's Six epigraphes antiques. Born in Kobe in 1993, Kenji Miura studied in the UK and in Berlin, where he is now based. "This album is a reflection of my own personal struggle with identity," he writes. "We live in an increasingly multi-ethnic and multicultural society - my torn-between-worlds feeling is shared by many around the world. This is my small musical letter to all those struggling with the many aspects of identity - a concept that should help us embrace who we are and our complicated, beautiful lives."
TABULA RASA / SYMPHONY 1 / COLLAGE ON A THEME BACH
VINYL PASSION
Vinyl
$34.99Mar 20, 2026
Experience the groundbreaking evolution of Arvo Part with this remarkable 2LP set featuring his seminal works. Opening with Tabula Rasa (1977), a concerto for two violins, prepared piano, and string orchestra, including the evocative movements Ludus and Silentium, this album journeys through Part's early avant-garde phase with Symphony No. 1 "Poliphonic" (1964) featuring Kanons and Prelude and Fugue. Also included is the intricate Collage on a Theme B-A-C-H (1964) with Toccata, Sarabande, and Ricercar, alongside the intense Pro et Contra (1966), a concerto for cello and orchestra dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, showcasing the dramatic Maestoso, Largo, and Allegro movements. A powerful testament to Part's innovative spirit and a must-have for fans of modern classical and avant-garde music.
At the heart of this new album from renowned British pianist Charles Owen stand two towering masterpieces: Liszt's Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and Franck's Prelude, Choral et Fugue - works that chart spiritual journeys through grief, doubt and despair toward radiant, redemptive hope. Each embodies the essence of de Profundis - a rising from the depths, a cry of the soul yearning for transcendence. Liszt and Franck, so different in temperament yet united by deep mutual admiration and shared faith, drew profound inspiration from their Catholic spirituality. Where Liszt's unbridled Romanticism blazes with drama and color, Franck's introspection glows with quiet devotion; both speak to the indomitable human spirit. Balancing such intensity are Liszt's visions of nature in the Deux Legendes and Les jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este: birdsong, flowing water, and the shimmer of divine light. His piano writing moves from the lightest suspension of sound to thunderous resonance, creating musical landscapes of awe and serenity. Charles Owen brings this immensely personal recording to life with luminous clarity and poetic insight, revealing music of both earthly struggle and eternal hope.
Jan Lisiecki - "preludes (Chopin, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Messiaen, Gorecki)" Canadian star pianist Jan Lisiecki showcases the kaleidoscopic world of the prelude. Taking the notion of the prelude as meaning something "that comes before," Lisiecki asks: "Can a recording project be composed entirely of such introductions, then, one leading directly into the next, and still be profound?" Verve Label Group; Deutsche Grammophon; Classical.
