Bach + [Various]: Transcriptions (Weissenberg, Rösel, Bax, Grimaud, Glemser)

A selection of various performances of Bach transcriptions by various composers. I don’t usually recommend this, but here I’d really encourage you to listen to these with a pair of good headphones – a lot of the subtler voicing (especially in the quieter transcriptions, like Bax’s or Glemser’s) can get lost otherwise. The performances here are arranged in a more-or-less logical order, with a something of a reverse recapitulation at the end. It’s basically impossible to go through every single performance here in detail, so here’s something of a brief overview of the performers: Weissenberg – W. is the quintessential anti-romantic Romantic pianist. His playing is marked by near-fanatical aversion to any unnecessary expressive gestures or technical gimmickry (technically amazing as it is). The tempi he chooses are uncompromising, and his dynamic range in these performances surprisingly large (see the fortissimos in Jesus bleibet and Nun komm). In these performances W.’s sort of neo-Baroque approac