This performance of
Book I
of
Bach
's
Wohltemperierte Clavier
("
Well-Tempered Clavier
") was recorded in the spring and summer of 2021, about a year after keyboardist
Andreas Staier
recorded the
second part
; clearly, he knew he had a hit on his hands.
Staier
uses the same modern copy of a 1734 German Hass harpsichord that he used for
Book II
and that he previously used in his recording of the
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
. It is a mighty instrument, with a resonant top and such a variety of registers that one might easily think one was listening to several different harpsichords.
exploits the differences among the registers effectively, matching them to the qualities of the individual pieces. These qualities are less abstract than the paired titles of Prelude and Fugue might suggest; traces of dances, of the French overture, of pastoral sounds, and more course through the set, and
's moods shift accordingly. The bass lines are unusually powerful by any standard of harpsichord music.
is very closely miked by
Harmonia Mundi
's engineers, working at Berlin's Teldex studio -- perhaps too closely miked, but this does not detract from a performance of the familiar
that immediately grabs one's attention with its force. The album landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2023. ~ James Manheim