The 20 Essential Bach Recordings

On some things yes, on others definitely no... Including Gould and the omission of Gustav Leonhardt and Harnoncourt.

Essential . . . yes . . . for those who compiled the list.

since everyone has their own essentials, I am disconcerted by the exclusion of Carl Richter

I like Gould and I also lament the omission of Gustav Leonhardt

Frank wrote:

Gould appeals to me and I also lament the omission of Gustav Leonhardt

I would have bet my _ _ _ _ _

sì anch'io lamento che non c'è Leonardt.
invece non avrei MAI detto che ad Antares (come a me) non garbasse Gould

Excuse me, but what are you telling me about the inclusion of Weingartner ??? ... At this point, to what will the adjective 'essential' refer?

To the Bach oeuvre (in itself)? [I doubt it]

Perhaps to the Bach interpretation? To the Bach image?

All interpretation? Mixing a bit of this and a bit of that?! I don't think so...

Why should I like Gould? I haven't actually found anything by Gould that I like yet

The thing that strikes me is that it's Gardiner, Pinnock, Dantone and Koopman, yet they omit Leonhardt and Harnoncourt who paved the way... if we include Richter at this point, let's also include Landowska, Tureck and Kirkpatrick

allow me: Leonhardt and Harnoncourt opened a path, not the [only] path.

But - I ask you - Richter, and the others you mention behind, in your opinion, shouldn't they be included in the anthology? And why?

True a path... I'm not saying no... but if you put Richter in at this point, Kirkpatrick and Landowska would go too

I would say that at an organist level they couldn't not mention Koopman, even if in effect he is a bit of a "libertine" with ornaments

He is an alien, technically anyway

Thanks for the opinions, I swear, I didn't write it

But Koopman was cited for something else entirely... if it had been about the organ, I wouldn't have had anything to say, as I would have also included Walcha

antares86 wrote:

True, a way forward... I'm not saying no... but if you include Richter at this point, Kirkpatrick and Landowska would be included too

well... I think budget reasons are the deciding factor.

It seems impossible to make an "essential" [collection] with 20 CDs when JS Bach is on the table. Even more so if the focus is on the interpretation of Bach

(interpretation meant: both as the performance of his music, and as the value, purpose - and meaning - of his music)