We can place Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on an enormous pedestal. Yet he did not publish the two books of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, as he did with, for example, the Partitas and the Goldberg Variations. Perhaps they were intended for home study rather than the concert stage. Two challenging collections that offer relaxation and entertainment. But they also require a lot of effort, as the music
… invites a considerable training in keyboard technique. Pianist Anderszewski chose his own route through the second book, searching for expression and character studies. He offers here only half of that second book, arranging the pieces as he saw fit. This created a refreshing anthology that breaks the rut of "from cover to cover" performances. In Anderszewski's own words: '12 interlocutors who mirror each other'.more
