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Music : Switched-On Bach 2000
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Rating: 
- clearing up confusion
I've read some confusion about Walter Carlos being the listed performer on Switched On Bach and Wendy Carlos being the performer on Switched On Bach 2000. Let me clear this up for anyone that might be confused or that won't consider the new 2000 version because of it not being Walter. They are both one in the same. In 1972, Walter Carlos underwent gender reassignment therapy. The last release to be credited to Walter Carlos was By Request (1975). The first release as Wendy was Switched-On Brandenburgs (1979). Carlos's first public appearance after her gender transition was in an interview in the May 1979 issue of Playboy magazine, a decision she would come to regret because of the unwelcome publicity it brought to her personal life. On her official site, her transition is discussed in an essay stating that she values her privacy on the subject.
Rating:
- Muddy waters...
I was sorely disappointed in this "updated" recording of Bach. The music supposedly more true to the period is muddy and indistinct. I jumped for joy when the original Switched On Bach was released last year - that is the one to buy.
Rating: - In what way inferior?
It's not inconceivable to me that someone who has spent a lifetime listening to a broad range of music could prefer Carlos's debut recording of Switched-On Bach to the collection, but from any objective viewpoint it IS indefensible. Not only has Carlos brought to bear a quarter century's booming tech innovation, but also a quarter century's musical experience from a unique vantage point atop the under-examined world of classical electronica.
A well-read friend of mine and musical omnivore was given the recent Wendy Carlos re-interpretation of Clockwork Orange to replace his lost Lp of the original soundtrack. His response was nearly ballistic. The original soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange was a dear old friend that had seen him through many a tough time, and he was intimately acquainted with every edge of every sine wave on it. And he missed those particulars so sorely, it was as though he'd been reacquainted with his high school sweetheart only to find she'd undergone reassignment surgery.
I try to keep this anecdote in mind when I read an unflattering review of S-OB 2000. I play music, and I know it in the way a dentist knows tooth enamel. I am as susceptible to a cherished smile as the next guy, but I do know teeth. Beautiful teeth.
Rating:
- Certainly not much beauty in this Beast !
I regret to review this album in a negative manner, since I respect the author as a great musical thinker and revolutionaire in synthesizing sounds (and composing music).
I would probably prefer the S-OB in its time, but the anniversary edition somehow eludes my liking.
I can agree, that Bach's music - which can be, when interpeted poorly, on a verge of kitch (for exmpl. various Airs and Adagios on "Best of Classics" or "Meditative Classics" and similar awful compilations) - is best performed by very skilled musicians that bring something fresh and meaningful to the music.
The plastic acoustic wrapping of S-OB 2000 doesn't help.
Wendy has shown her artistic potential in many other cases, most respectively in excellent Beauty in the Beast.
Why can't she continue to explore in that direction and do things of high artistic value - modern classical compositions - sort of electronic Ligeti or Stravinsky on trip or something like that?
I prefer her composition on S-OB 2000 , since that was produced with electronic instrument in mind, while Bach was thinking about organ, strings and harpsichord/klavier. The original tunings don't replace the natural timbre and microtonal variations that experienced players make conciously or unconciously while playing - we all heard about great violin virtuosos that achieved their original tone or sound by playing some notes a little flat to achieve the effect that Wendy is talking about.
Some of the music on S-OB 2000 doesn't sound TOO different from some keyboard demo with Bach's music to my ears - MIDI toccata or somethnig like that - sorry Wendy.
Wendy used the extraordinary tunings creatively in Beauty in the Beast and achieved masterful musical effect and experience of real creativity and musical magic. I admire her in-depth observation and recreation of elements of different ethnic music and orchestra, which show her great knowledge and real understanding of underlying matrix that constitutes music - she might be genial in that aspect, but I think she shouldn't waste her talent on things like S-OB 2000.
Rating: - Bach at its Best
I love this CD. It was interpreted in such a unique way, it brought back the original flavor of how the music was played on hapsicord (sp?) back in the Baroque period. This interpretation really made the notes came alive. It was most enjoyable and it lifted your spirit as the music plays.
- clearing up confusionI've read some confusion about Walter Carlos being the listed performer on Switched On Bach and Wendy Carlos being the performer on Switched On Bach 2000. Let me clear this up for anyone that might be confused or that won't consider the new 2000 version because of it not being Walter. They are both one in the same. In 1972, Walter Carlos underwent gender reassignment therapy. The last release to be credited to Walter Carlos was By Request (1975). The first release as Wendy was Switched-On Brandenburgs (1979). Carlos's first public appearance after her gender transition was in an interview in the May 1979 issue of Playboy magazine, a decision she would come to regret because of the unwelcome publicity it brought to her personal life. On her official site, her transition is discussed in an essay stating that she values her privacy on the subject.
Rating:
- Muddy waters...I was sorely disappointed in this "updated" recording of Bach. The music supposedly more true to the period is muddy and indistinct. I jumped for joy when the original Switched On Bach was released last year - that is the one to buy.
Rating:
- In what way inferior?It's not inconceivable to me that someone who has spent a lifetime listening to a broad range of music could prefer Carlos's debut recording of Switched-On Bach to the collection, but from any objective viewpoint it IS indefensible. Not only has Carlos brought to bear a quarter century's booming tech innovation, but also a quarter century's musical experience from a unique vantage point atop the under-examined world of classical electronica.
A well-read friend of mine and musical omnivore was given the recent Wendy Carlos re-interpretation of Clockwork Orange to replace his lost Lp of the original soundtrack. His response was nearly ballistic. The original soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange was a dear old friend that had seen him through many a tough time, and he was intimately acquainted with every edge of every sine wave on it. And he missed those particulars so sorely, it was as though he'd been reacquainted with his high school sweetheart only to find she'd undergone reassignment surgery.
I try to keep this anecdote in mind when I read an unflattering review of S-OB 2000. I play music, and I know it in the way a dentist knows tooth enamel. I am as susceptible to a cherished smile as the next guy, but I do know teeth. Beautiful teeth.
Rating:
- Certainly not much beauty in this Beast !I regret to review this album in a negative manner, since I respect the author as a great musical thinker and revolutionaire in synthesizing sounds (and composing music).
I would probably prefer the S-OB in its time, but the anniversary edition somehow eludes my liking.
I can agree, that Bach's music - which can be, when interpeted poorly, on a verge of kitch (for exmpl. various Airs and Adagios on "Best of Classics" or "Meditative Classics" and similar awful compilations) - is best performed by very skilled musicians that bring something fresh and meaningful to the music.
The plastic acoustic wrapping of S-OB 2000 doesn't help.
Wendy has shown her artistic potential in many other cases, most respectively in excellent Beauty in the Beast.
Why can't she continue to explore in that direction and do things of high artistic value - modern classical compositions - sort of electronic Ligeti or Stravinsky on trip or something like that?
I prefer her composition on S-OB 2000 , since that was produced with electronic instrument in mind, while Bach was thinking about organ, strings and harpsichord/klavier. The original tunings don't replace the natural timbre and microtonal variations that experienced players make conciously or unconciously while playing - we all heard about great violin virtuosos that achieved their original tone or sound by playing some notes a little flat to achieve the effect that Wendy is talking about.
Some of the music on S-OB 2000 doesn't sound TOO different from some keyboard demo with Bach's music to my ears - MIDI toccata or somethnig like that - sorry Wendy.
Wendy used the extraordinary tunings creatively in Beauty in the Beast and achieved masterful musical effect and experience of real creativity and musical magic. I admire her in-depth observation and recreation of elements of different ethnic music and orchestra, which show her great knowledge and real understanding of underlying matrix that constitutes music - she might be genial in that aspect, but I think she shouldn't waste her talent on things like S-OB 2000.
Rating:
- Bach at its BestI love this CD. It was interpreted in such a unique way, it brought back the original flavor of how the music was played on hapsicord (sp?) back in the Baroque period. This interpretation really made the notes came alive. It was most enjoyable and it lifted your spirit as the music plays.