Highly interesting, but triggering mixed feelings. 1) this is possibly one of the best completions I heard so far, since it goes much beyond the usual, endless, boring combinatorics by other "finishers" (sorry Mr. Göncz). Beyond the +/- mandatory combinations, there are some new ideas here, much in the style of JSB himself (see for instance his own rewriting of the end of BWV1080/I, which interrupts the flow : breaks are not taboo, nor are divertimenti). 2) ... but I share Leonhardt's later views that the main theme of the Art of Fugue does not belong here, and that the Fuga a tre soggetti is not part of the Art of Fugue. My dream would be to hear another conclusion by Thierry Escaich NOT introducing that main AoF subject as a fourth subject, and "simply" (and masterfully) developing the three original subjects. So did PF Boëly for instance... an old debate that might never be resolved. 3) Pianists *tend* to hammer fugue subjects as if there were a need to permanently draw attention to it, creating a sense of repetition, if not a headache. In my opinion it impoverishes the music. Countersubjects etc. should not be permanently rejected into the background. But maybe that's an organist's or harpsichordist's prejudice, so please pardon my rant.
So Clean! Wow… More videos needs to be like this!!
Highly interesting, but triggering mixed feelings.
1) this is possibly one of the best completions I heard so far, since it goes much beyond the usual, endless, boring combinatorics by other "finishers" (sorry Mr. Göncz). Beyond the +/- mandatory combinations, there are some new ideas here, much in the style of JSB himself (see for instance his own rewriting of the end of BWV1080/I, which interrupts the flow : breaks are not taboo, nor are divertimenti).
2) ... but I share Leonhardt's later views that the main theme of the Art of Fugue does not belong here, and that the Fuga a tre soggetti is not part of the Art of Fugue. My dream would be to hear another conclusion by Thierry Escaich NOT introducing that main AoF subject as a fourth subject, and "simply" (and masterfully) developing the three original subjects. So did PF Boëly for instance... an old debate that might never be resolved.
3) Pianists *tend* to hammer fugue subjects as if there were a need to permanently draw attention to it, creating a sense of repetition, if not a headache. In my opinion it impoverishes the music. Countersubjects etc. should not be permanently rejected into the background. But maybe that's an organist's or harpsichordist's prejudice, so please pardon my rant.