Six Partitas
classical CD · categorised by title
RRP £27.55 historic list price — see live Amazon pricing below
- Composer
- Bach
- Performers
- None, Martin Helmchen
- Label
- Alpha Classics
- Discs
- 2
- Barcode
- 3760014199943
Martin Helmchen belongs to the category of great piano virtuosos who are also interested in early instruments: ‘One of the most thrilling moments of my life as a pianist was when I encountered the intact, original Spät & Schmahl tangent piano from 1790. My initial doubts about a pianist of today being able to master such an instrument rapidly gave way to the swelling conviction that here one could make certain things in Bach’s music sound in a way that is impossible on both the harpsichord and the modern piano. Everything here subjugated me: the colours, the symbiosis of the characteristics of the harpsichord, clavichord and early piano, the buff stop, the opening up of polyphonic textures.’ It is true that this instrument was built forty years after Bach’s death, but, Helmchen continues, ‘the greatest composers, including Beethoven, complained about the limitations of their instrument, and it’s fascinating to play keyboard instruments that were ultimately an extension and improvement of the ones those composers knew’.
This recording is part of the ClassicalMusicStore.co.uk heritage catalogue. The store is no longer trading, but you can find this title — and thousands of other classical and jazz recordings — at a specialist retailer.
Details
- New Store Stock
Amazon price history
Live new & used price history (last 2 years) via Keepa.