“Nobody taught me what I do in Bach“ - Rosalyn Tureck Private Interview (ca. 1990)

Here’s a treat! It’s an audio recording of an interview that my former piano teacher, Dale Innes had with the renowned Bach pianist, Rosalyn Tureck. 😀 This undated, private recording was conducted in Toronto, Canada, at The Royal Conservatory and I estimate it to be from about 1990. As the audio quality is rather poor, I transcribed the conversation as best I could. Subtitles can be accessed via the “CC“ icon. Topics discussed include: 0:05 - Studies with Jan Chiapusso and Olga Samaroff. 2:05 - A pivotal experience that impacted how Tureck would perform the music of Bach for the rest of her life. 6:07 - Tureck’s influence on Glenn Gould. 8:08 - Tureck on her approach to playing Bach. 12:06 - Tureck on studying musical structure and form. 12:43 - Embellishments and their intrinsic value to music performance. 16:41 - Connections between embellishments in Tureck’s Bach performances and music from India and China and the Hebrew chant. 2