The prodigious hands of Karl Richter, the master of the keyboard and the best Bach's interpreter of all times. Aggiungo e cito: 'Ancora oggi...Karl Richter è il punto di riferimento assoluto, l'apice, il fulcro risolutivo della musica, del pensiero e dell'umanità bachiana.'
Well there are others... I thinking of another Richter, russian this time ... Svitoslav Richter. Maybe better. Or Murray Perahia... Not to mention Sokolov... Then on harpsichord you've got Scott Ross, Pierre Hentai... To say Karl is the best of all times is an exaggeration.
@@georgescompositions8872 Glenn Gould has been a huge influence undeniably. Challenging orthodoxy in tempo, attack etc has been a breath of fresh air in Bach's interpretation. However lately I have come to favour Perahia for the accuracy/choice of score. Karl Richter is too mechanical to my taste. Awesome player of course but when you have so much choice of great musicians you can be picky ;-)
One year later and as of today, I have completed and laid to rest this above and beyond remarkable work, probably my most revered keyboard work of Bach personally. I learned fully and studied it for Masters auditions....only because I discovered this very video three years ago which ignited such a fire inside of myself to pursue this...Master Richter, I shall love you forever and regard you as the highest pinnacle exponent of Bach, at least for me! I am so thankful. I could like this a hundred times over if I could!
I have spent many a late night reading thru this partita, not at some of his speeds of course. As a Gould fan I wanted to see how old Richter would do, I am just floored! Such passion for the purity of the notes. Such great precision so the music can spring forward. No constant rubato or fake emotion pauses. Slow movements even slower than Gould! Notice how the tempo almost never varies, even in the repeat the beat is not lost, no wasted space for sighing. Some of the tempi are almost exactly what Gould does, definite influence here. Perfect balance of how great the music is and how great the playing is so that one does not overshadow the other. I can see Bach playing like this.
Gigue is incredible. Bach writes this incredible gigue then says, here it is upside down. then it comes in again right side up. Playing is stupendous, holy cow. I have his recording of WTC I need to listen to again. The school of non rubato Bach, Tureck, Nicholaieva, Gould, Richter. No limid Schiff and Hewitt for me, no thanks.
That it is a wonderful performance, no one can deny it! But some more information would have been welcomed: harpsichord manufacturer, pitch, tuning etc.
If I'm not mistaken, Richter always played the Neupert Hass model harpsichord. I believe you can at least see the edge of the Neupert logo in some of the shots. Pitch is A440 (this can be confirmed by listening to the first bar of the music and comparing the bass notes with a reference pitch). I do not know for sure what the tuning system is but I'd be very surprised if it was not equal temperament.
To me, who first heard the harpsichord as played by Leonhardt, this performance appears grotesque and absurd. The harpsichord is being treated like a grand organ. Then again, Bach doesn't assume a unique correct instrument or a unique correct manner of playing for his keyboard music; if Richter hears this piece this way, why not! I'll try again and listen more closely ...
I agree with you, Leonhardt has a very unique and delicate approach to this partita. Nonetheless, Landowska, Kirkpatrick and Ruzickova all have a similar approach to Richter's. It's amazing how many ways this masterpiece can be interpreted. After listening too many times, I now love Richter's approach the same as Leonhardt.
Don’t be a snob. It’s what was available in those days. It doesn’t rob from his brilliant performance in the least. Don’t know how old you are, but you’re obviously not mature and enlightened enough to leap beyond the “material” aspects of materialization of genius. The genius part is all that matters. The material part is as interesting and important as the waste material you leave in the toilet each morning.
mercoid failing yo see how having an opinion on an instrument makes me a snob? I never said it detracted from his performance or talent? And a matter of fact no its not? Traditional/flemish harpsichords were also in use in the 70s, the harpsichord here is most likely a pleyel harpsichord-made in with an iron frame. A completely unauthentic, unnecessary waste of an instrument. The instrument in question is important and tells us a great deal about the music what it was written for. The fact youve taken your time to belittle me over a youtube comment about a harpsichord is frankly the most pitiful thing ever x
