JS Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier

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How refreshing and deeply compelling to encounter Alexandra Papastefanou’s no-holds-barred, red-blooded, freely yet subtly pedalled responses to this era-defining compendium. As if entranced... — BBC Music Magazine, October 2018, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 27th Jul 2018
Catalogue No: FHR065
Label: First Hand
Length: 4 hours 22 minutes

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Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Work length1:56:00

$48.00

$62.40

$84.00

Alexandra Papastefanou (piano)
Recorded: 24-25 April 2017
Recording Venue: Aris Garoufalis Concert Hall, Athens, Conservatoire, Greece

Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 846: I. Prelude

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 846: II. Fugue

Track length2:10

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847: I. Prelude

Track length1:29

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847: II. Fugue

Track length1:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848: I. Prelude

Track length1:24

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848: II. Fugue

Track length2:20

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849: I. Prelude

Track length2:59

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849: II. Fugue

Track length5:08

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Major, BWV 850: I. Prelude

Track length1:15

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Major, BWV 850: II. Fugue

Track length1:55

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Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 851: I. Prelude

Track length1:26

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 851: II. Fugue

Track length2:08

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 852: I. Prelude

Track length4:11

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 852: II. Fugue

Track length1:39

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853: I. Prelude

Track length3:38

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853: II. Fugue

Track length5:33

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E Major, BWV 854: I. Prelude

Track length1:29

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E Major, BWV 854: II. Fugue

Track length1:12

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E Minor, BWV 855: I. Prelude

Track length2:18

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Prelude & Fugue in E Minor, BWV 855: II. Fugue

Track length1:13

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Major, BWV 856: I. Prelude

Track length1:02

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Major, BWV 856: II. Fugue

Track length1:13

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Prelude & Fugue in F Minor, BWV 857: I. Prelude

Track length2:09

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Minor, BWV 857: II. Fugue

Track length4:46

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858: I. Prelude

Track length1:34

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858: II. Fugue

Track length2:12

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859: I. Prelude

Track length1:21

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859: II. Fugue

Track length4:07

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Prelude & Fugue in G Major, BWV 860: I. Prelude

Track length0:52

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G Major, BWV 860: II. Fugue

Track length2:38

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Prelude & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 861: I. Prelude

Track length2:01

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 861: II. Fugue

Track length1:42

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Prelude & Fugue in A-Flat Major, BWV 862: I. Prelude

Track length1:21

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Prelude & Fugue in A-Flat Major, BWV 862: II. Fugue

Track length2:58

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863: I. Prelude

Track length1:40

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863: II. Fugue

Track length2:27

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Prelude & Fugue in A Major, BWV 864: I. Prelude

Track length1:28

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Prelude & Fugue in A Major, BWV 864: II. Fugue

Track length2:12

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Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 865: I. Prelude

Track length1:09

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Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 865: II. Fugue

Track length3:50

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Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866: I. Prelude

Track length1:22

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Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866: II. Fugue

Track length1:39

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Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867: I. Prelude

Track length3:00

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867: II. Fugue

Track length4:01

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B Major, BWV 868: I. Prelude

Track length1:08

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B Major, BWV 868: II. Fugue

Track length2:14

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Prelude & Fugue in B Minor, BWV 869: I. Prelude

Track length6:16

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Prelude & Fugue in B Minor, BWV 869: II. Fugue

Track length6:46

$1.00

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Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2

Work length2:26:11

$49.00

$63.70

$85.75

Alexandra Papastefanou (piano)
Recorded: 24-25 April 2017
Recording Venue: Aris Garoufalis Concert Hall, Athens, Conservatoire, Greece

Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 870: I. Prelude

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C Major, BWV 870: II. Fugue

Track length1:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C Minor, BWV 871: I. Prelude

Track length3:01

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in C Minor, BWV 871: II. Fugue

Track length2:03

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872: I. Prelude

Track length1:43

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872: II. Fugue

Track length1:51

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 873: I. Prelude

Track length4:12

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 873: II. Fugue

Track length2:01

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Major, BWV 874: I. Prelude

Track length5:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in D Major, BWV 874: II. Fugue

Track length3:14

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 875: I. Prelude

Track length1:37

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 875: II. Fugue

Track length1:45

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 876: I. Prelude

Track length2:38

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 876: II. Fugue

Track length1:43

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Minor, BWV 877: I. Prelude

Track length3:44

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Minor, BWV 877: II. Fugue

Track length3:56

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E Major, BWV 878: I. Prelude

Track length5:23

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in E Major, BWV 878: II. Fugue

Track length2:55

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Prelude & Fugue in E Minor, BWV 879: I. Prelude

Track length3:44

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Prelude & Fugue in E Minor, BWV 879: II. Fugue

Track length2:52

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Major, BWV 880: I. Prelude

Track length4:06

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Major, BWV 880: II. Fugue

Track length1:30

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Minor, BWV 881: I. Prelude

Track length4:06

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F Minor, BWV 881: II. Fugue

Track length1:49

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Major, BWV 882: I. Prelude

Track length3:04

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Major, BWV 882: II. Fugue

Track length2:45

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 883: I. Prelude

Track length3:06

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 883: II. Fugue

Track length4:44

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G Major, BWV 884: I. Prelude

Track length2:34

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G Major, BWV 884: II. Fugue

Track length1:10

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Prelude & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 885: I. Prelude

Track length2:46

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 885: II. Fugue

Track length2:49

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in A-Flat Major, BWV 886: I. Prelude

Track length3:32

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in A-Flat Major, BWV 886: II. Fugue

Track length3:28

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 887: I. Prelude

Track length4:08

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 887: II. Fugue

Track length4:23

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in A Major, BWV 888: I. Prelude

Track length1:58

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in A Major, BWV 888: II. Fugue

Track length1:15

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 889: I. Prelude

Track length5:11

$1.00

$1.30

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Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 889: II. Fugue

Track length1:40

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 890: I. Prelude

Track length8:10

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 890: II. Fugue

Track length2:16

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, BWV 891: I. Prelude

Track length3:02

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor, BWV 891: II. Fugue

Track length3:51

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B Major, BWV 892: I. Prelude

Track length1:47

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B Major, BWV 892: II. Fugue

Track length4:37

$1.00

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Prelude & Fugue in B Minor, BWV 893: I. Prelude

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prelude & Fugue in B Minor, BWV 893: II. Fugue

Track length1:53

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

About
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About

Pianist Alexandra Papstefanou performs The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I and II in a complete 4CD recording of the works.

One of the greatest achievements in musical composition history, The Well-Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach, is a collection of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. It seems both books, composed two decades apart, were written primarily for educative personal and private use in the home ? probably to be played on the intimate clavichord.

Alexandra Papstefanou graduated from Athens Conservatoire, where she studied piano under Aliki Vatikioti. She followed her studies with Olga Zhukova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, with Peter Solymos, at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and, on a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation, at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, USA, with the highly influencial teacher György Sebok. She has also taken lessons from Alfred Brendel.

Papastefanou was a finalist at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland and received the Liebstoeckl and Fazioli Prizes at the International Geneva Competition, as well as the Spyros Motsenigos Prize from the Academy of Athens.

She has performed all of Bach's keyboard works and, in a series of recitals, has presented his complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and The Musical Offering as well as his keyboard concertos.

Papstafanou performs keyboard music from the Baroque through to modern repertoire including the music of George Crumb, Gyorgy Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Toru Takemitsu. She has performed solo and chamber recitals, concertos across Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Finland and Hungary), the United States and Canada.

Reviews

October 2018

How refreshing and deeply compelling to encounter Alexandra Papastefanou’s no-holds-barred, red-blooded, freely yet subtly pedalled responses to this era-defining compendium. As if entranced by the music’s purely expressive contours, Papastefanou imbues Bach’s imperious musical logic with a rich humanity and emotional narrative. Inauthentic? Almost certainly. Musically in the moment and convincing? Absolutely.

October 2018

Salient aspects of harpsichord technique inform Papastefanou’s approach, such as varied legato articulations and arpeggiations, strong finger independence, plus the occasional use of agogic caesuras and tenutos to demarcate phrase groupings and points of harmonic tension…Beyond question, Papastefanou more than holds her own alongside the catalogue’s top piano versions of the ‘48’.

JS Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier

4 CDs

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