With this recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II,
Daniel Barenboim continues from where he left off with Book I. To him, each prelude and fugue is more than a mere exercise in counterpoint. Each becomes a
Bach gem, with a specific musical shape. He starts right off by giving the "Prelude No. 1" a majestic opening chord, followed by a more subdued body that carries with it a reverence for that majesty.
Barenboim uses the piano's dynamic range and pedal colors judiciously, never exaggerating. The "Fugue No. 16" is grand, but not as grand as it would be on an organ, while the "Fugue No. 18" is as graceful as it would be on a harpsichord, and not too much more colored. In every fugue, each subject statement is discrete, but fits in with the other voices sensibly and purposefully. He makes the preludes more varied in sound, more like
Bach's orchestral or choral music, even while they stay within the confines of keyboard forms. Once again,
Barenboim's
Bach is abundant with intelligent and thoroughly musical ideas.