J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1 & 2 - Rosalyn Tureck (DG 1999) 4 CDs

A cornucopia of counterpoint.

The Well-Tempered Clavier sums up Bach's mastery of the keyboard in the same way as the B minor Mass sums up his mastery of singing. Each book contains twenty-four preludes and fugues, one in each major and minor key. In the early eighteenth century keyboard instruments would be tuned so that certain keys sounded better or worse than others; the innovation of "well-tempered" tuning allowed the keyboard to sound equally well in all keys, which these collections are intended to demonstrate. They also serve as manuals for keyboard technique, both in the preludes, which usually offer a specific technical challenge, and in the fugues, which test the player's ability to untangle dense contrapuntal lines. Rosalyn Tureck, one of the great Bach performers, handily achieves these tasks and provides a compelling performance.

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