• She has a very poetic touch, and seems to have a wide variety of colours at her fingertips
    Robert Hugill
  • This is a recording to change your perception of the Well-Tempered Clavier.
    Campbell Vertesi
  • Ishizaka plays the 24 preludes and fugues with impeccable taste and technique
    Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine
  • A gifted and obviously devoted Bachian
    James Oestreich, New York Times
  • I have never heard "Book 1" done better. You hear Bach with new ears.
    Grego Applegate Edwards
Kimiko Ishizaka Releases the "Open Well-Tempered Clavier"

New public domain recording and score arrive in time for J.S. Bach's 330th birthday

COLOGNE, Germany, March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Pianist Kimiko Ishizaka has released her studio recording, J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, into the public domain. This follows her 2012 project, the Open Goldberg Variations, which caused an internet sensation due to the first-ever combination of crowdfunding on Kickstarter.com, and free-culture licensing (Creative Commons Zero), to produce and promote a serious classical release.
900+ people contributed to the Kickstarter.com campaign to finance the "Open Well-Tempered Clavier," raising over $44,000. Recording was done in Berlin's Teldex Studio, with recording engineer Anne-Marie Sylvestre and piano technician Gerd Finkenstein. The instrument is a Bosendorfer 280, provided by the manufacturer.

Grego Appelgate Edwards writes:

"Yet in all the years, all the versions, I have never heard 'Book 1' done better than on the new recording by pianist Kimiko Ishizaka (Navona 5993, 2-CDs)."

Robert Hugill writes:

"Her approach brings clarity to the more complex of Bach's textures with the fugues in particular benefiting," and "I was constantly delighted to discover how dance-based much of this music can be."

The recording is released by Navona Recordings, who enthusiastically embraced the novel concept of producing a CD release that actively encourages people to copy and share the digital recording. The recording was #1 on the Amazon.com "Hot New Releases" charts on March 8.

A new digital edition of the score to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier has been produced by MuseScore.com, also under a public domain license. Digital scores have distinct advantages over paper and PDF scans in editing, arranging, and accessibility, ( making them suitable for visually impaired musicians).

Kimiko Ishizaka

Kimiko Ishizaka is an award winning German-Japanese pianist who began her career as a member of the Ishizaka Trio. In 2012 she released the “Open Goldberg Variations”.

A gifted and obviously devoted Bachian -- James Oestreich, New York Times

MuseScore

MuseScore is a music education company helping aspiring musicians in their journey to learn to play their favourite songs by offering free and easy to use music notation software

Navona Records

Navona Records is the classical label imprint of audio production house PARMA Recordings, offering listeners a fresh taste of today's leading innovators in orchestral, chamber, instrumental, experimental, and classical music.