Broad Bach

Fanciers of Johann Sebastian Bach are a disputatious lot given to occult probings into the spirit of the Master. Some like their Bach feathery and ice-edged; some like him broad and deliberate. The undisputed queen of the "broad" Bach school is Chicago-born Pianist Rosalyn Tureck, who for the past five years has been building an impressive reputation in Europe's concert halls (TIME, July 29, 1957). Last week the New York Philharmonic provided J.S.B.'s Manhattan fans with a rare treat: an all-Bach program at which Pianist Tureck appeared as the first female conductor in the orchestra's history of 5,890 regular concerts.

From the piano she led the orchestra (30 strings) in the Concerto No. 1 in D Minor and the Concerto No. 7 in G Minor. As always, the Tureck style was unhurried, her touch firm and glistering, her phrasing spacious. Her cues to the orchestra were kept to a minimum: a somewhat stiff sweep of the arms to launch a movement, followed by a nod of her head or even the lift of an eyebrow to cue individual sections. Her piano itself set the tempo, which Tureck accentuated by bobbing slightly on the piano bench.

In rehearsals, where her basic conducting is done. Pianist Tureck hands out her own editions of the works to be played (no printed editions of the original Bach orchestral parts are available), explains to the orchestra what her artistic concept is and why she has called for specific details of phrasing, dynamics, tempo. The major problem, she finds, is "getting a new idea of Bach across" to orchestra men chiefly schooled in the romantic repertory of the 19th century. In describing her ideas, she avoids technical detail, often uses phrases like "Keep it broad!" Once, during rehearsal last week, she cried, "You know what I mean," drew from Concertmaster John Corigliano a gentle suggestion: "If you want it, you must show them."

Small, intense Pianist Tureck, who has never formally studied conducting, began only two years ago, when she got the chance to do eight Bach concertos with Copenhagen's Collegium Musicum. Since then, she has successfully led the Philharmonia Orchestra in a series of concerts that sold out London's Royal Festival Hall. She still plays regularly under other conductors. But when she herself can boss the orchestra, she feels that she can come several steps closer to the real Bach.

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