Bach Clavierfantasien Andreas Staier [FLAC]

BACH: KEYBOARD WORKS. Andreas Staler (hpd). Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/RCA Cl RK77039; (D R D77039 (63 minutes: ADD). Preludes—C minor, BVVV921; A minor, BVVV922. Fantasias—C minor, BVVV906; G minor, BVVV917; C minor, BVVV919. Preludes and Fugues—A minor, BVVV894; F major, BWV901; G major, BVVV902. Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BVVV903. Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BVVV904.



Andreas Staier, who recently left Cologne Musica Antigua to embark on a career which allows him more time to prepare solo repertory, explores some seldom trodden Bach territory on this new disc from Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. He also includes pieces more frequently performed, like the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor and the Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, but many other pieces are much less familiar. The Prelude or Fantasia in A minor (BWV922) is a curious piece probably dating from around 1710, and recalling Domenico Scarlatti in the reiteration of its two principal figures. Staier makes it as interesting as he can but the music is hardly satisfying. The Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, by contrast, is one of Bach's most highly developed works of the kind, apart from the 48. The Fantasia unfolds magnificently in a toccata-like manner recalling an earlier style, while the double fugue is developed separately and then combined in a masterly way. After concentration on that level Staier returns to another of Bach's early preludes (BWV921), a more interesting one than the other, BWV922, which he plays with a nicely improvisatory touch and dazzling fingerwork; and he follows it with a shorter fantasia, also in C minor (BWV919). The Prelude and Fugue in A minor dates from Bach's Cothen period, though he returned to it at Leipzig using its two sections as the basis of the outer movements of his Concerto in A minor for flute, violin and harpsichord (BWV1044). The two Preludes and Fugues,BWV901 and 902 also belong to Bach's Cothen years, BWV902 hinting at the Prelude in E major from Book 2 of the 48 amongst other pieces. Both fugues, incidentally, reappear in revised versions in Book 2 of the 48 but it is the Prelude of BWV902 which steals the show and is all too seldom heard. The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, together with the Fantasia, duobos subiectis (BWV917), and the Fantasia and incomplete Fugue in C minor (BWV906) with which Staier mischievously rounds off his programme, conclude an impressive recording.
Staier is thoroughly au courant with this repertory and performs it with technical and stylistic assurance. His rhythmic pulse is firm but not rigid and his discerning use of rubato affords a notably articulate account of the music. His choice of registration is unfussy and allows for clarity in texture and coherence of thought. This is a recital I shall want to return to. The programme is well chosen, effectively presented and, as I say, played with lively discernment. Fine recorded sound sets the seal on this first-rate Bach issue. N.A.

Gramophone 10/89