Bach Piano Works
Perahia’s Bach registers as forthright where needed and quietly (and distinctively) supportive when other players take a lead
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Sony Classical
Magazine Review Date: 12/2003
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 55
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: SK87326
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Flute, Violin, Harpsichord and Strings |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Jaime Martin, Flute Jakob Lindberg, Theorbo Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Kenneth Sillito, Violin Murray Perahia, Piano |
(6) Brandenburg Concertos, Movement: No. 5 in D, BWV1050 (hpd, vn, fl & stgs: 1720-21) |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Jaime Martin, Flute Jakob Lindberg, Theorbo Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Kenneth Sillito, Violin Murray Perahia, Piano |
Concerto in the Italian style, 'Italian Concerto' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Murray Perahia, Piano |
Author: Rob Cowan
The spirit of Prades and Marlboro is here revisited, with Murray Perahia first among equals and the whole production infused with a sense of spontaneous musical interplay. To take just one telling example, go to 3'42" into the first movement of the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, where Perahia cues a breathtaking diminuendo then boldly builds towards the recapitulated opening theme. The sense of engagement is infectious. Then there’s the cadenza, subtly reminiscent of Alfred Cortot in its bell-like voicing, elegance and, just prior to the orchestra’s return, cumulative excitement.
There are, in a sense, two Perahias at work here: the first a non-percussive front-man whose evenly deployed runs are a joy, unlike some who more approximate a hard stick being drawn past iron railings. And then there’s the keyboard poet within the orchestra, who even when playing mezzoforte or piano manages to project a full tone (witness his presence in the tutti after Brandenburg No 5’s cadenza). The presence of a theorbo helps flavour the two concerto slow movements, the Triple Concerto especially where the impression of ‘leaning together’ is very pronounced. Superb solo playing, too, flautist Jaime Martin producing a memorably plangent tone.
As on previous Perahia Bach concerto recordings, the overriding impression is of intelligence, sensitivity and drama tempered by humility – Bach’s and Perahia’s. The Italian Concerto begs the by-now familiar question as to how one pair of hands can command so many simultaneous dynamic grades without sounding strained or self-conscious. The outer movements are colourful but never prettified, the principal melody of the central Andante like a memory of classic bel canto. And yet Perahia’s Bach has plenty going on: you attend to one layer of counterpoint, then return for another and so on, discovering something new each time. Even when judged in relation to other top-ranking piano recordings of Bach (among the most recent, Goode, Hewitt, Schiff and Anderszewski) this CD strikes me as exceptional. The recorded sound is full and forward.
There are, in a sense, two Perahias at work here: the first a non-percussive front-man whose evenly deployed runs are a joy, unlike some who more approximate a hard stick being drawn past iron railings. And then there’s the keyboard poet within the orchestra, who even when playing mezzoforte or piano manages to project a full tone (witness his presence in the tutti after Brandenburg No 5’s cadenza). The presence of a theorbo helps flavour the two concerto slow movements, the Triple Concerto especially where the impression of ‘leaning together’ is very pronounced. Superb solo playing, too, flautist Jaime Martin producing a memorably plangent tone.
As on previous Perahia Bach concerto recordings, the overriding impression is of intelligence, sensitivity and drama tempered by humility – Bach’s and Perahia’s. The Italian Concerto begs the by-now familiar question as to how one pair of hands can command so many simultaneous dynamic grades without sounding strained or self-conscious. The outer movements are colourful but never prettified, the principal melody of the central Andante like a memory of classic bel canto. And yet Perahia’s Bach has plenty going on: you attend to one layer of counterpoint, then return for another and so on, discovering something new each time. Even when judged in relation to other top-ranking piano recordings of Bach (among the most recent, Goode, Hewitt, Schiff and Anderszewski) this CD strikes me as exceptional. The recorded sound is full and forward.
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