Word: bache
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...reappraisal. Wilderness Journal, a symphony for bass- baritone (the late Donald Gramm), organ and orchestra (the National Symphony), on texts by Thoreau, surges and soars, while The Nine Lessons of Christmas lyrically transcends its seasonal origins. And La Montaine the virtuoso is represented by an engaging reading of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 -- on the electronic keyboard, no less...
Apart from its knuckle-breaking difficulty, the piece presents a fundamental challenge: how to handle the repeats of Bach's 30 variations without becoming tedious. Glenn Gould solved the problem by skipping most of the repeats in his landmark 39-minute studio version, recorded in 1955. Feltsman has found another way. In addition to changing the dynamics, articulation and ornamentation of the repeated passages, his 79-minute interpretation departs radically from the usual approach by shifting octaves and even reversing the voices by crossing hands on the keyboard. The result is an electrifying performance -- technically dazzling yet infused with romantic...
ALBUM: J.S. BACH: GOLDBERG VARIATIONS...
Composed in 1742, supposedly to ease the slumbers of an insomniac Russian , count, the Goldberg Variations are among Bach's most brilliant and daunting keyboard works. "Somehow the piece has been very special all my life," says Feltsman. He speaks passionately about its mathematical and mystical symbolism -- "the meaning of it is infinite, infinite" -- and describes a long "love-hate relationship between Goldberg and myself...
...pianist cut his 100-concerts-a-year schedule in half and moved from his West Side Manhattan apartment to a quiet bungalow nestled in the woods near New Paltz. Last March he signed a contract with MusicMasters that will allow him to record the Germanic repertory he loves, particularly Bach and Beethoven. "Now everything is balanced," he says. "And I think that people finally are looking at me as just a musician, you know, not as a political hero or specialist in Russian music." For Feltsman, the cold war has finally ended...