Kevin Bowyer has recorded Bach before, for Priory have released his ''Late Twentieth Century Edwardian Bach Recital'' ((CD) PRCD267, 3/90). His tongue may have been ever so slightly in his cheek then, playing Bach in the traditional 'English' manner, full of rattling swell shutters and hefty Open Diapasons. However, now that he has embarked on the daunting prospect of recording the complete organ works for Nimbus he might be forgiven for not wanting to be reminded of such youthful flippancy. Nevertheless, these are still very 'English' performances even down, I see, to his use of the Novello edition for the great G minor Fantasia and Fugue. True you won't find the wonderful Odense Marcussen attempting to re-create the sound of an English Full Swell or allowing its gloriously translucent flojte to be mistaken for full-bodied, hooting flutes, but Bowyer does play his Bach in the robust, no-nonsense manner so often heard in English cathedral organ lofts.
The Pastorale sometimes finds itself subjected to small doses of rubato, but elsewhere, these open, unpretentious performances are quite devoid of any overt interpretative gestures and serve more to highlight the glories of the instrument than Bach's music. That's not detrimental to the value of this disc; far from it. Bowyer knows this instrument intimately—it was the scene of one of his competition triumphs back in 1990—and he delights in showing off its vast and rich resource with a programme both familiar and demanding. He is supported by a recording of absolutely top-class quality, not forgetting Wilfrid Mellers's extensive and intriguing notes. But I will be eager to see, as the series unfolds, whether Bowyer develops a more individualistic approach. He has the intellectual and technical wherewithal, as well as remarkable gifts for communication from the organ console, to produce performances of great authority. Here the performances themselves are not the most memorable feature of a hugely enjoyable disc.'