Bernard Roberts (23 July 1933 – 3 November 2013) was an English pianist. He was born in Manchester. His treatment of the cycle of

Beethoven's piano sonatas Ludwig van Beethoven wrote 32 mature piano sonatas between 1795 and 1822. (He also wrote 3 juvenile sonatas at the age of 13 and one unfinished sonata, WoO. 51.) Although originally not intended to be a meaningful whole, as a set they comprise one ...

has been highly acclaimed. He is also noted for his recordings of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Roberts' recording of the ''

Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

,'' Books 1 and 2, performed on piano, was released in 1999 by Nimbus Records and was well received. Roberts also has recorded Bach's Six Partitas, BWV 825–30, and his French Suites, BWV 812–17. In collaboration with other performers, Roberts released discs of music for one and two pianos by Paul Hindemith and of trios by Frank Bridge. According to Roberts' official home page, he has been the subject of a 40-minute

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

documentary, and he "particularly enjoys performing the piano trio repertoire with his sons Andrew and Nicholas". Roberts commented that although he enjoyed making the Beethoven recordings, he feels his playing was somewhat restrained in the first "direct cut" recording.

References

External links

Bernard Roberts' official page, courtesy of his representative
* ttp://www.bach-cantatas.com/NonVocal/Klavier-Partitas-Roberts.htm Review of Roberts' recording of Bach's Partitas at bach-cantatas.com English classical pianists Male classical pianists 1933 births 2013 deaths Musicians from Manchester 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British musicians {{UK-classical-pianist-stub