Johann Sebastian Bach: Klavierwerke Vol. 3 – Das Wohltemperierte Clavier Band II BWV 870-893 (24 Präludien und Fugen) places Johann Sebastian Bach’s Wohltemperiertes Clavier II, BWV 870–893, with all 24 preludes and fugues at the centre. The programme follows no mere succession of separate titles but develops an arc of its own: formal proportion, sonic gesture and the transformation of movement into repose can be experienced as a continuous narrative. Thomas Günther opens up this music with a reading that makes detail audible without losing sight of the larger whole.
Bach, Johann Sebastian is the compositional point of reference for this edition. Set against the horizon of Baroque music, it becomes clear how many shapes the language of sound, compositional technique and expression can take together. Thomas Günther presents the 24 pairs in a deliberately reordered sequence. This „new hanging“ sharpens the relations between keys, affects and textures without giving up the cycle as a whole. The selection leads not into a museum-like retrospective but into a living present of listening: structures become intelligible, the particularities of the works take on profile, and familiar as well as unexpected turns gain weight.
The scoring — Solo instrument, piano music — decisively shapes the character of the album. Registration, resonance, breath, touch and silence are treated as musical forces. Where lines overlap, rhythmic impulses gather or tone colours merge into one another, the layout remains transparent. It is precisely this that creates the fine relations which open up further on repeated listening.
Thomas Günther joins technical command to a clear, unforced musicianship. The playing follows the individual character of the works while maintaining an overarching dramaturgy: fragile moments lose none of their tension, virtuoso passages stay articulate, and strong contrasts are not put on display but developed out of the musical material itself. This gives the edition concentration and a convincing inner calm.
The recording carries this concept with particular attention to dynamics, space and tone colour. Hybrid-SACD with a total playing time of 141:31 keeps the sense of closeness to the performance while making spatial dimensions intelligible. Einzelstimmen und Klangschichten…