This is Bach in private mode, intimate, exploratory and rarely demonstrative. Nils Anders Mortensen recorded this first set of three Partitas (the other three will follow in a subsequent recording) in a church in Oslo, which gives the overall texture a liquidity that sometimes makes one wonder if he is over-pedalling. He isn’t, but the acoustics warm the sound while softening all the contours.

Mortensen’s interpretations use a sharp contrast between long passages in seamless legato and others in persistent staccato mode. His legato mode tends to a tender inwardness, as in the Allemande of Partita No 5. His staccato style can sometimes feel just a bit frantic, as in the strange accents and clipped rhythms of the Courante from Partita No 6 – the tempo isn’t unduly fast, yet it feels rushed.

At its best, this is elegant playing, without eccentricity or ostentation. There are no big effects and few moments when one senses the performer in the foreground. But one often feels as if a lot has been left on the table, including a sharper delineation of counterpoint and contrast between voices. The Sarabande of Partita No 6 gets so inward that much of the drama is left by the wayside. A no-drama approach is always welcome in Bach, in theory. But in this case, one wishes for a bit more of a sense of character, variety and interpretative individuality.