As in his earlier recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, Andreas Staier’s Book I features a modern replica of the unusually grand harpsichord built in 1734 by Hieronymus Albrecht Hass. Staier clearly revels in the instrument’s wide sonorous scope and potential for mixing and matching registrations and couplings.
The C major Prelude’s prominent lute stop gives way to the fugue’s brighter timbres, while the toccata-like C minor Prelude’s low-register octave couplings flesh out the texture to Bach/Busoni dimensions. With the C-sharp minor Fugue, the essence of Staier’s musical personality comes into focus. Here many harpsichordists handle the austere five-voice counterpoint with kid gloves, dryly and dutifully. Not Staier. He embellishes the theme with trills, and allows the episodes to flexibly unfold.
The D minor Prelude ebbs and flows rather than spinning like a sewing machine. Staier’s long-lined phrasing of the E-flat major Prelude minimizes the music’s sectionalized nature. Notice the F-sharp major Prelude’s delicacy and masterful finger legato, the full-bodied F-sharp minor Prelude and Fugue, and the G minor Fugue’s crisp accentuation.
Staier’s unbridled A-flat Prelude leads into a light and discreetly ornamented Fugue, while, conversely, his relatively understated A major Prelude gives no hint of the breakneck Fugue up ahead. Staier’s dancing sensibility and varied articulations prevent the A minor Fugue from losing momentum. The B-flat minor Prelude is surprisingly forthright, heavy, and vertical, in contrast to the B minor Prelude’s alluring linear interplay.
Certain harpsichord fans, to be sure, will prefer a lighter instrument and a less interventionist interpreter in the manner of Kenneth Gilbert or Masaaki Suzuki. Yet as always, Andreas Staier’s fearless demeanor, force of personality, and consummate workmanship more than meet Bach halfway.
