BACH Complete WTC I Prelude and Fugue 19 in A major, BWV 864 Daniel Martyn Lewis

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BACH
Complete Well Tempered Clavier Book One
Daniel Martyn Lewis, piano
The complete 24 Preludes and Fugues, released in reverse order
Prelude and Fugue 19 in A major, BWV 864
How would I describe the Prelude? Peaceful, pastoral, contented, charming... but with a more serious and thoughtful undercurrent, as felt in the descending chromatic line. The Fugue starts with a comedic touch, with a single quaver followed by silence! The lines jump and run around each other with playful abandon, but in all this one is reminded that Bach's joking was that of a sage, as his biographer Forkel put it.
DML
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DANIEL MARTYN LEWIS
‘Daniel Martyn Lewis [Bach Network Dialogue Meetings, Cambridge UK] displayed how academic research can directly inform performance.’
Early Music
‘…a truly fine musician… it took barely more than one or two acutely-drawn phrases to make it very clear that Mr. Lewis is precisely that sort of an artist… He plays Bach with obvious love and understanding… dexterity and crystalline lucidity… what a pleasure to hear such naturalness; and so little self-aggrandizing affectation! Also such a fine grasp of harmonic tension and linear movement…. [he] kept the spiritual message afloat and, when needed, airborne. ’
New York Concert Review
‘Lewis reveals and revels in the details of this music, with a clear sense of the contrapuntal textures...he displays a real appreciation of the emotional impact of the music......there is much to enjoy in this recording, with an impressive variety of mood, style and drama throughout the individual pieces, providing an album rich in contrasts and eloquence of expression, which fully demonstrates the genius and joyfulness of Bach’s writing and Lewis’s obvious deep affection for this music.’
Interlude
‘…he riveted the attention with his ability to project the individual lines with crystalline clarity… beautifully sculpted and delicately shaded… his rapid finger work was to marvel at, as was his solemn concentration in the g minor Adagio… an impressive and engaging program, one to which the audience responded warmly. ’
Classics Today, New York
‘ …his affinity with Bach was obvious… Lewis’s grasp of the contrapuntal complexities was evident. He set out the musical ideas with clarity, tracing lines and colouring voices thoughtfully and deliberately, building a solid architectural structure while articulating intricacies of chromatic harmony and rhythm.’
The Guardian London
‘... a truly impressive display of his evident talent.’ The Western Mail Cardiff
‘…richly satisfying… balance of powerful control and interpretive sensibilities… a wonderful clarity both of the harmonic sonorities and of the voice leading… a fearless artist.’ Musical Opinion UK
‘Wonderful! ...gorgeous singing quality and emotional connection... the sense of order, the purity, the lack of artifice, yet with plenty of grace, fluidity, style and taste... Daniel played a magnificent performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One. ’
Jed Distler, music critic, composer, pianist. New York
‘...such consistently high quality of execution, such refinement of taste, and such strong idiomatic grasp of voicing, ornamentation and Affekt...’ David Fanning, music critic, Manchester
‘...focus, clarity and spell binding presence.’ Ruth Tatlow, Bach Scholar, author
‘...incredible clarity... extraordinary in terms of both its aesthetic appeal and scholarly significance... by carefully blending the ideas and performance techniques of both the harpsichord and modern piano, Lewis artfully speaks Bach’s language with fluidity and conviction... the sound of the modern piano allows him to construct Bach’s powerful musical drama which he manages to unfold magnificently.’
Yo Tomita, Bach Scholar, author