Both slow, Fugue ending boring. It's a shame this pair is on
the Voyager Record. See below.
Prelude ok, good timing. Fugue, disaster. What's with the Staccato?.
"Piano" Ending??
Prelude a disaster. Ghost voices on left? Intro to Allegro scares
the listener! Fugue slow and boring. What's with the pianissimo on the
theme?
Prelude good. Voices come out, approaches "semplice" and "espressivo".
Fugue very good although VERY loud. What's with the Staccato on the dotted
eighths? Unneeded loud accents? Gets a 4 because it's one of the hardest
fugues, otherwise would get a 3.
Sudden "piano" on the second bar of the theme in Prelude?? Repeat,
first bar "piano"? Fugue polyphony ok, but what's with the Staccato on
notes 4/5/6/7 of the theme?? Gets a 3 because it's a hard fugue, otherwise
it would be a 2.
Prelude good, although it shows incomplete mastery of timing
(on this one). Fugue almost a disaster. The dreaded Staccato on the theme
eighths, again. Starts "piano"?? Ends with "ritardando" and "piano"? The
ending of this fugue should be like fireworks.
Prelude is supposed to be "Pastorale". This is a speeding race.
Ending good though. Fugue excellent.
Prelude ok, but repeat to first part is scary fff. Fugue
too fast. This is one of the most profound and grave fugues of both books.
The dreaded "Staccato" again on the theme on bar 15 and towards the end,
coupled with "piano" themes. Awful. Ending "piano"???
Prelude excellent, except for last bar where he does funny things
with the trill. Fugue a complete disaster. He is totally missing the point
here. This is a "solene"/"mystico" fugue not a "giocosso" one!! TOO LOUD!!
TOO FAST!! The dreaded "Staccato" again.
Prelude excellent. Does nice things with those trills, both
short and long, although use of "Staccato" may be slightly dubious. Fugue
excellent too. This is perhaps the first excellent pair of book II, although,
again, the "ritardanto" at the end of the fugue may be a bit dubious
and exaggerated.
Prelude polyphony very good (although the dreaded "Staccato"
emerges again). Got the spirit on this one. Fugue excellent too. Has spirit
of gigue. Does nice stuff near the end.
Prelude TOO FAST!! The amazing "Staccato" again on a highly
emotional piece. Fugue ok. Could be better, with ff/pp.
Prelude excellent. At last, no dreaded "Staccato"!! Does nice
things with sixteenth/dotted eighth pairs! Excellent timing. Fugue excellent
too. Probably one of his best. Does nice things with trills and phrases,
themes stand out, counter-subjects really nice. The second excellent pair
in book II.
Extra trills on prelude all over the place? Would be nice if
he had some f's somewhere. Otherwise ok. Fugue disaster. This is one
of the most complex fugues and he makes it a speeding race. TOO FAST!!
The incredible "Staccato" strikes again, this time on the second fugue
theme. Second and third theme entries horrible. He is missing the point
here.
Prelude excellent and with excellent timing. Fugue one of his
best. He's got it here. Perhaps the third excellent pair of book II.
Almost a disaster. This is supposed to be an atomic bomb with
huge momentum, not a lullaby. Puts me to sleep. Too slow. Fugue much much
better, one of his best in the book. He's worked on this one and it shows.
Prelude very very nice. Dynamics and polyphony get more and
more interesting towards the middle and his pedal there is nice without
interfering with the polyphony. Excellent timing! One of his best preludes
in book II. Fugue, excellent. Perfect timing. Again, towards the middle
(bar 40 and up) does very interesting things with polyphony, and pedal.
Fantastic ending for once! Another excellent pair.
Prelude destroyed by speed and lack of ff/pp on repeated sections.
He picks up speed racing again. If it wasn't so fast, would be almost ok.
Fugue: The "Staccato" Dragon raises his ugly head on the theme. Rest sounds
ok. Voices come out nicely. Second theme entrance "piano"? It's supposed
to be a second THEME not accompaniment! Good use of pedal towards the middle.
Nice ending section. Last theme calls very very nice!
Prelude "Giocosso"(sp?)? Gets better towards the end, though.
Fugue excellent! Correct momentum! Correct speed! Correct dynamics and
beautiful ending with powerful last theme entry! One of his best.
Prelude left and right hand sometimes too loud. Otherwise almost
ok. Fugue theme should come out MORE. Gets mixed with the rest and is not
audible. Gets a 3 because of correct timing and because it's one of the
hardest fugues. Otherwise a 2. "Piano" instead of "fortissimo" in the last
bar? Amazing.
What's with the occasional dotted quarter noise? Is it a wake up
call? Fugue is good except for some occasional "Staccato"s, which silently
creep in at places.
He picks up the speeding race again, on perhaps this most important
prelude of book II. What's with the noise? Bar 24 left hand: Wake up call?
Fugue excellent. If this fugue was bad, the entire CD would lose half
its price. One of the hardest fugues, if not the hardest fugue of book
II and G has done his homework on this one.
The most perfect pair of his book II. Entire CD would be worth
if only for these two. No comments here. G is a "Master of Time" on this fugue. This pair should have been on Voyager.
Prelude too fast. Otherwise ok. Fugue would be excellent if
it wasn't too noisy and loud.