Bach Partitas, BWV825-30
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 3/1986
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMC1144/6
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Partitas |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Kenneth Gilbert, Harpsichord |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Magazine Review Date: 3/1986
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 415 493-2AH2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Partitas |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Trevor Pinnock, Harpsichord |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 3/1986
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMC40 1144/6
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Partitas |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Kenneth Gilbert, Harpsichord |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Magazine Review Date: 3/1986
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 415 493-1AH2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Partitas |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Trevor Pinnock, Harpsichord |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Magazine Review Date: 3/1986
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 415 493-4AH2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Partitas |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Trevor Pinnock, Harpsichord |
Author: John Duarte
Of the three harpsichordists, Pinnock is the most given to extremes of tempo, well ahead of the field in the Courantes/Correntes (that in Partita No. 1 is uncomfortably rushed) and sundry other movements but the back-marker in the Allemandes of Partitas Nos. 4-6, the Gigue of No. 6 (rather laboured) and the Sarabandes of Partitas Nos. 4-6. At this level tempos are as much an expression of personality as, for instance, the approach to embellishment; de la Porte stands between the more mercurial and fast-fingered Pinnock and the less demonstrative but thoughtfully expressive Gilbert. All three add such ornaments as seem to be implied in terms of stress, beyond which limits lies a minefield in these works where the written ornamentation comes as close to self-sufficiency as one may find. Gilbert is very circumspect, making his only significant venture in the Sarabande of Partita No. 5, but Pinnock and, even more, de la Porte, take their courage in both hands with many happy diminutions—the latter does so even in the already-florid Sarabande of No. 6, enhancing its majestic outpouring (the upward sweep in bar 4 of the B section is memorable). The use of inegales is an area in which all three players find common ground, notably in the problematical Gigue of Partita No. 6. On the whole, all three make conservative use of changes of registration, reserving them for repeats, but Pinnock displays a love of the buff stop in several galanteries and de la Porte shows her only eccentricity in her kaleidoscopic treatment of the Rondeaux of Partita No. 2.
The instruments all serve well the basic purpose of tonal richness and textural clarity, and are superbly recorded: a copy of the Couchet-Taskin from the Raymond Russell Collection by Michael Johnson (de la Porte), a Couchet-Taskin-Blanchet (1671-1778—Gilbert), and a copy of a Hemsch (c. 1760) by David Way (Pinnock).
If economics are a significant factor, choose Pinnock's ebullient set. Otherwise settle for de la Porte, or, if you feel that what you want is the text, the whole text and nothing (barring a few logically-added ornaments) but the text, then go for Gilbert. Collectively, the three recordings show the variety of ways in which the Partitas, like most other great music, may validity be treated. In a Desert-Island situation I'd choose de la Porte, but that is a personal reaction rather than a solid recommendation.'
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