I grew up listening to him; he was a phenomenal virtuoso. I didn’t care much for his orchestral interpretations, but he was absolutely spot on in using large harpsichords with 16′ choirs to play the Bachs, as he knew that’s the sort of instruments they had and used. He took an enormous amount of flak from the “authentic performance” crowd because of it, and yet, the irony is, in this respect, his performances were much more authentic than those played on two or three choir instruments without any 16′ for that thundering bass. He understood JSB’s harpsichord music as few could, and as only an organist could.
Richter makes my ears go into different spaces, and then pulls them back…at the same time !
I don’t know how to describe this; Richter’s mood is to change one person into another… ?
Welcome to the wonderful world of Affektenlehre…
I grew up listening to him; he was a phenomenal virtuoso. I didn’t care much for his orchestral interpretations, but he was absolutely spot on in using large harpsichords with 16′ choirs to play the Bachs, as he knew that’s the sort of instruments they had and used. He took an enormous amount of flak from the “authentic performance” crowd because of it, and yet, the irony is, in this respect, his performances were much more authentic than those played on two or three choir instruments without any 16′ for that thundering bass. He understood JSB’s harpsichord music as few could, and as only an organist could.
In the meantime your new instrument seems to be stuck in a time warp…