“Gulda Plays Bach”, “First release ever”, “Private Recordings
from Gulda’s archive”, “Bonus Track: Gulda’s own exuberant Prelude
and Fugue”. The title and exclamations of this Deutsche Grammophon
release are, typical PR breathlessness aside, perfectly enticing;
especially to someone like me who values Friedrich
Gulda’s second Beethoven cycle but also cherishes many
of his quirks and jazz-antics. That said, this compilation does
not quite live up to its promise. The English Suite No. 2 in A
minor, a patch of a live radio broadcast from a 1965 Berlin Philharmonic
Hall performance and a RIAS studio recording a year later, is
the longest piece on this disc. The sprightly-yet-anchored performance
is the most satisfying. Because the subtle white noise was adjusted
to appear on all six tracks and the audience coughs on the live
cuts are suppressed, it’s actually difficult to tell the cuts
apart.
The
Toccata in C minor comes in bad sound quality - a 1955 private
live recording. It’s the work that won Gulda the 1946 Geneva
Piano Competition. But whatever special thing was present at
that competition performance is either absent here or no longer
easily discernable to 2009 ears. Especially for the combination
of this Toccata and the A minor English Suite, Deutsche Grammophon
has a more interesting, better sounding disc on offer with the
recital of Gulda student, Martha Argerich.
The
Italian Concerto, driven in the outer movements gentle yet fleet
in the Andante, is fine stuff, but it’s not discernable to my
ears why it might be special (compared to Alexandre Tharaud, for example), despite
the Gulda’s interpretive authorship. A curiously un-involving
G minor English Suite comes in very good sound from a 1969 studio
recording. The Capriccio in B flat BWV 992 sounds superb given
that it is a 1959 private mono recording and despite the unsentimental,
brisk approach, the work’s mellowness is allowed to linger in
the slow movements. This cobbled-together Bach recital is capped
with an encore of Gulda’s own, jazzy-Bach Prelude & Fugue.
Four pleasant minutes that don’t really allow any insight into
Gulda’s foible or ability for Jazz.
For
Gulda fans, this CD - coming, like many of DG’s new releases,
in the more functional “Super Jewel Box” - will be of obvious
interest. Those interested in Gulda’s Bach will find his Well Tempered Clavier (Philips) of more lasting
appeal.
Jens
F. Laurson
Friedrich Gulda
(piano) 
