Bach - The Well Tempered Clavier [Nikolayeva]Wow what a box set!, and more importantly what interpretations!, 4 discs in a 'fatbox' disc housing, with 12 Preludes / Fugues conveniently on each disc, apart from the last two, it's also good to have a full track listing on the back, and more importantly each Prelude and Fugue aren't cued separately from each other, it makes it easier to know where i am in my listening.
I play these pieces on 'random' on my player, just to mix them up nicely [one reason why separately cued Preludes / Fugues don't work!], you don't know what you're going to get next.
Tatiana Nikolayeva was Russian, born in 1924, she passed away in 1993, she recorded this set in 1984, i also like the photo on the front cover, plus the yellow theme.
Well what can i say about these pieces?, there's so much to enjoy, this work takes a lifetime to slowly appreciate, it seems it just can't be hurried, the Preludes & Fugues that really caught my eye / ear were 1, 3, 9, 17, 25, 31, 36, 39 & 42, i must admit that i have a 'thing' for these Preludes, but the Fugues don't rate so highly.
Well i'll plump for Prelude & Fugue 9 [BWV 854], it's actually the shortest of the whole set, coming in at 2:24, it's innocent and disarming, a great little tune [0:00-1:12], the treble and bass take turns playing the tune [right and left hands] and overlap each other nicely, little trills in the right hand give it a regal quality, the prelude repeats the opening [0:40+], and it opens and flowers all over again in a wonderful way, the fugue starts at [1:13], Nikoleyeva likes to play it loud, possibly as a nice contrast to the prelude, like i said it's short, but it's a perfect little number.
Here's Eric Durham playing Prelude 9 on YouTube
