Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book One
Colin Booth (harpsichord)
rec. 2018, Westbury-sub-Mendip, England
SOUNDBOARD RECORDS SBCD218 [59:31 + 62:12]
It is intriguing to discover a recording that features a performer playing upon an instrument that he himself built. To my knowledge this has never happened with the piano (Daniel Barenboim did not personally construct the “Barenboim Piano” on which he recorded the Schubert Sonatas, for example), but there have been a number of harpsichord recordings featuring performer/builders. Colin Booth, an English harpsichordist, has been both performing on and building harpsichords for 40 years. The harpsichord used on this recording is a 2016 copy of a 17th century instrument built in France by one Nicholas Celini, an Italian whose name was apparently Gallicized upon his move north.
What does the instrument sound like? Many harpsichords have a timbre that could uncharitably be described as “nasal.” That is not the case with Booth’s instrument, which has a very defined, open, and clear tone; every note speaks without struggle, and all registers seem quite resonant. The tuning used is Kirnberger III. This tuning was devised in the 1770s by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, a student of Bach. As described in the excellent and comprehensive booklet notes by Booth, Kirnberger features either a slightly “short” fifth (the fifth of a chord is tuned low), or a high third. The tuning is comparatively subtle – there is no bar-room upright jangling here – but it does have a distinct color in each key, something which is lost in equal-temperament performances.
The playing is excellent. Booth is not afraid to ornament when the Muse strikes him, but he does so with taste and discretion. The ornaments don’t slow him down, and they also don’t pull at the attention; they simply complement the notes Bach wrote, giving the score a bit of extra panache. In the slower, more inward-facing pieces, Booth desynchronizes the hands to great emotional effect. He also utilizes appropriate rubato to emphasize interesting chords and progressions (listen to the B-flat Minor Prelude for an example), something that pays great dividends in many of the more somber preludes and fugues.
The tempi are for the most part moderate in nature, with no rushing or dawdling. At times, I wished for more flowing tempi; to give two examples, the D Major prelude feels effortful (though I have no doubt that Booth could play it with more motion if he chose), and the A Minor prelude lacks the zip of exuberant renditions by pianists like Sviatoslav Richter or, in a more extreme example, Frieda Kwast-Hodapp, whose tempo borders on insanity. No matter: Booth’s forte is the slower movements. He gets right to the heart of the matter in the C-sharp Minor five-voice fugue, illuminating its poignant cruciform subject with much care. That fugue’s mate, the B-flat minor five-voiced fugue, is equally fulfilling.
This is a deeply satisfying account of the Well-Tempered Clavier. The thoughtful performances and the pleasing sound of the instrument combine to make this one of the best recent versions of Bach’s greatest pedagogical work. I hope that Booth will tackle Händel next; it would be wonderful to hear his take on the eight great suites.
Richard Masters
