JS BACH The French Suites
Back to Bach and back to Sony for Italian pianist Bacchetti
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Magazine Review Date: 11/2012
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 88691 96510-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) French Suites |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Andrea Bacchetti, Musician, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(7) Toccatas, Movement: E minor, BWV914 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Andrea Bacchetti, Musician, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
(6) Partitas, Movement: No. 2 in C minor, BWV826 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Andrea Bacchetti, Musician, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
Author: Harriet Smith
Where he tends to come unstuck is in the Sarabandes, which are often very slow indeed. A case in point is that of the Fourth Suite. Bacchetti comes in at just over five minutes whereas Gould despatches it in just over two, Hewitt just under three and Richter – who sounds steady but not slow here – still manages to shave two minutes off the Italian’s timing. I assume what Bacchetti is aiming for here is an almost improvisatory-sounding reverie, complete with haze of pedal, but the effect is merely sluggish (and the sound of his Fazioli is somewhat anonymous). Gould et al are much more expressive precisely because of their greater focus.
He is more involving in the E minor Toccata – at least until you put on Gould, whose élan with the fugal writing bears no comparison. What’s lacking here is the sense of the joyous physicality of the music, a workout for mind and fingers, that the most empathetic Bach players find, something Hewitt understands well.
In the dramatic C minor Partita, too, Bacchetti’s shortcomings are exposed when compared to Perahia, whose sparkling Rondeau makes the Italian sound careworn. He goes for the big finish in the closing Capriccio but, even here, the momentum is thwarted by hesitations and the lack of an even pulse. If you admire this relatively free approach, Maria João Pires is matchless in a mixed disc that includes the Second French Suite.
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