After his spectacular Rachmaninov and Scriabin performances, both on LP and in the concert hall, Bach was the last thing that one expected from Andrei Gavrilov. However, the results, given this clear, unfussy recording and very quiet surfaces, are usually pleasing. The suites' many dance movements are well and variously characterized—the courantes, for example—and he uses a wide, though unexaggerated, range of dynamics. Naturally the sarabandes take advantage of the piano's singing qualities and Gavrilov's readings of these and other slow movements are notably inward-looking, sometimes eloquent, as in the Sarabande of Suite No. 6; that belonging to No. 1, also, conveys a memorable impression of stillness. In medium-tempo pieces such as the allemandes of Suites Nos. 1 or 3, the pulse is nicely supple, and Gavrilov has a well-developed sense of line, as is evident in, say, the Sarabande of Suite No. 2 or the Courante of No. 3. He often shifts the relative weights of contrapuntal lines to subtle effect, though such changes as he makes in the repeats (all of which are observed) are discrete.
There is constant rhythmic vitality, not only in exhuberant final gigues. These last, however, contrast rather too strongly, in their hard-hit manner of delivery, with the way all other movements of the suites are played. The execution itself is superb, as in the Gigue of Suite No. 5, but the style is exaggerated, this being shown by comparison with, for instance, the gavottes of Suites Nos. 4 and 5, which are vigorously performed yet without undue emphasis. A minor annoyance is that Gavrilov hardly pauses between Courante and Sarabande in Suites Nos. 5 and 6, and this is strange as Sides 3 and 4 have short playing times. In fact the set is oddly laid out. There are two suites each on Sides 1 and 2, giving long playing times (29'48'' and 32'04'' respectively), while Suites Nos. 5 and 6 are spread over whole sides, giving only 18'18'' and 17'15''. Glenn Gould, of course, got all six French Suites on one LP (CBS 73393, 5/75).'