Review by miguelito54 March 3, 2007 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
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The main positive aspect of this recording is its sonic beauty: The harpsichord played obviously is a very fine instrument, and its sound is captured directly, but intimate in a very natural surrounding. This recording is worth getting for the sound alone, for any lover of the harpsichord. As far as Vinikour's interpretation is concerned, I think there are a few superior recordings. I appreciate that he takes his time, and takes care to play all repetitions as indicated by Bach - most performers skip at least one of them to fit all the music on one disc, and one is tempted to think that some choices of tempo also might be inspired by the attempt to keep the total playing time under 80 minutes. The label deserves credit for allowing the performer to record this without using the stop-watch! (And you get the two SACDs more or less for the price of one.) But compared to other recent top-notch recordings, like Céline Frisch's on alpha from 2001 (which sounds terrific on a red book standard CD!) or Pierre Hantai's from 2003 on Mirare, Vinikour does not sound quite as technically assured or clear in his conception. This recording leaves one with a feeling of calmness (which might be appropriate for music composed to bide one's time during a sleepless night), but not in astonishment over the variety of musical possibilities the composer uses. Still, recommended.
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