Sonically speaking, in Naxos’ remastering Edwin Fischer’s landmark recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier is markedly inferior to the pricier EMI and Pearl reissues. As with their transfers for Book I, Naxos’ producers obtain emasculated results from excellent shellac pressings. Did they have their CEDAR noise reduction software pumping away at full blast? Pops, clicks, and ticks are reduced to the point where room ambience and overtones inherent in the original source material are severely compromised. Out of curiosity, I dug out my old, scratchy shellac copy of Fischer’s Book II E major Prelude and Fugue. My god, what a difference! It sounded as real and lifelike as the transfers in the Pearl and EMI sets did. EMI squeezes both books onto three CDs but doesn’t provide separate bands for each prelude and fugue. You pay more for Pearl, but they also include just about all of Fischer’s solo Bach in addition to the “48”. The choice, then, lies between EMI and Pearl. As for Fischer’s playing, I refer you to my favorable comments about the EMI set (Quick Search Number Q967). If you harbor nostalgia for the old, filtered-to-death French Pathé LP transfers of Fischer’s WTC, Naxos offers a reasonable, indeed worse sounding facsimile.
