With this release, you can purchase Edwin Fischer’s pioneering set of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues at full price (Pearl), mid-price (EMI), and now budget price. Actually, when Book II eventually appears on Naxos, the total cost of both double-CD budget sets will be identical to EMI’s three-disc mid-price edition encompassing both books. The main question for collectors, of course, concerns the quality of these new transfers by restoration engineer Stuart A. Rosenthal. Producers Marina and Victor Ledin mention that the 78s were restored utilizing the full capabilities of the CEDAR noise reduction system. In this case, however, I think they overdid it. Surface noise is filtered away at the expense of room tone, top end information, and color. By contrast, Seth Winner’s noisier yet more vibrant, dynamic transfers for Pearl bring you face to face with Fischer’s majestic piano. What’s more, Pearl offers more music, dividing virtually all of Fischer’s solo Bach between each of its double-CD albums. EMI draws from the best source material, but the preludes and fugues are not banded separately. For a fuller discussion of the performances in the context of their time and ours, I refer readers to my ClassicsToday.com review of the EMI set (QuickSearch number Q967). As you’ve probably surmised by now, that’s the one to get. If you want more music, it’s worth spending more money for Pearl’s comparable transfers. At least Naxos includes intelligent, insightful annotations by Farhan Malik.
