John Butt - Bach WTC - All About Jazz

Notable and Nearly Missed 2014

John Butt and his Dunedin Consort has already lit a blazing bonfire in period instrument/performance circles. Butt's Mozart Requiem (Linn, 2014) was revelatory and his reading of Handel's Messiah (Linn, 2013) was transcendent. Butt has previously established his Bach bona fides with meticulously researched recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos, John Passion and the Mass in B Minor. It is no surprise then that Butt elected to display his keyboard chops on Bach's Well-Tempered Clarier. As expected, Butt performs on harpsichord, specifically a copy of German instrument (dated 1702-04) by Michael Mietke tuned to a' = 415Hz (the Modern a note resonates at 440Hz). Butt's playing is reverent, precise and accurate. He obviously treasures his Bach in the original vernacular, crisp and punctuated.