Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
Performed by Daniel-Ben Pienaar, piano
Here is yet another young pianist, working to enrich the world with fine music.
In the performer’s own words:
“The book shows Bach at once at his most systematic and at his most unpredictable and playful. In total one can only describe it as a heroic endeavor – here Bach strives for variety-for-the-sake-of-variety in the highest sense. No genre or style is left unexamined, no keyboard instrument or ensemble texture not recalled in some sense or other.”
And now here’s what is in the press about the performer:
“Pienaar [is] swift, bright and crisp…Pienaar clarifies the subject matter in greater detail and he builds to a taut climax. [The A minor Fugue] is one of the many highlights in his set that includes a magnificently profiled F sharp minor Fugue, an E flat major Prelude where unsynchronised hands are used to enhance the melody of the chorale section, and an audacious altered version of its companion Fugue.”
………………………………Gramophone Magazine, July 2004
“Daniel-Ben Pienaar’s recording of Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, together with his eloquent booklet notes, leaves no doubt that this South African-born pianist is a thinking virtuoso…he seems determined to leave his own mark on this music.”
……………………………….BBC Music Magazine, February 2004
“He’s a thoughtful pianist with a fine technique and beautiful tonal variety. One fabulous moment is his performance of the F-minor Prelude: he plays it with a pale, almost lifeless tone and a very slow tempo. At the other side of the spectrum is his very humorous performance of the A-major Fugue. The first note is given a sharp, short attack, and the remainder of the subject prances stealthily upward like a cat on the prowl.”
………………………………………….American Record Guide, April 2004
Click below to hear Daniel Ben Pienaar playing Bach’s Partita no 5 (From 1992)
Here is Daniel-Ben Pienaar playing Mozart’s Piano Sonata K333 (second and third movements).
Tags: Daniel-Ben Pienaar, Bach, well – tempered clavier