Bach , Partitas

Listeners familiar with other recordings in Masaaki Suzuki's ongoing traversal of Bach's solo keyboard works may find his performances of the Partitas somewhat of an anomaly. For instance, the sharply delineated juxtapositions of tempos that made his Fantasias and Fugues program so thrilling (type Q3840 in Search Reviews) are nowhere to be heard here. The interpretive agenda this time is much subtler and decidedly more introverted.

Recent issues of the Bach partitas on the harpsichord have provoked reservations about the quality of the recordings: the set by Kenneth Gilbert so uncomfortably close to the microphone as to pick up distracting action noise from the instrument, Trevor Pinnock's somewhat fuzzy, Scott Ross's too reverberant to be ideal. So perhaps I may start by commending the admirably warm but clean and natural sound secured by the producer (Chris Sayers)—even in a church (not far from Toulouse)—of the very fine Hemsch harpsichord of 1751 that Rousset has used before.

The six partitas for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach are among the greatest and most inspired works of all keyboard literature. Although they are the first works that Bach decided to publish, they represent the composer's genius at the height of his maturity, matched only by the Goldberg Variations. Performed on a stunning copy of a North German instrument of Bach's time, rich and expressive, but also clear and incisive, built by Tom and Barbara Wolf, each of the partitas is a microcosm, ranging from the poetic and pastoral (no. 1, in B flat Major), to the epic and tragic (no. 6, in e minor). Bach shows himself to be playful, profound, meditative, theatrical, virtuoso - and always the greatest composer of counterpoint of all time.

Hearing guitarist Sean Shibe’s Bach recital, recorded in Delphian’s fifteenth-century Scottish venue, Baroque violinist Bojan Čičić was inspired during the first lockdown to begin recording Bach’s iconic Partitas and Sonatas. Amid the gloom of the pandemic and restrictions on performances, Čičić travelled north – when allowed – to explore the intense rigours of Bach’s fugues and shining virtuosity of the Partitas’ fast movements.

Rudolf Buchbinder is firmly established as one of the world's foremost pianists and is frequently invited by major orchestras and festivals around the world. His comprehensive repertoire encompasses numerous 20th century compositions and has been a recording artist for over four decades now resulting in a vast catalogue of more than 200 releases. Amongst them, Sonys release of the entire 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven, which was awarded the prestigious ECHO Klassik prize. Buchbinder is lauded over and again for his state of the art interpretations of the piano milestones by Beethoven and Brahms. Now, for the first time in his recording career, Rudolf Buchbinder tackles the third of classical musics Three Bs Johann Sebastian Bach.

Hearing guitarist Sean Shibe’s Bach recital, recorded in Delphian’s fifteenth-century Scottish venue, Baroque violinist Bojan Čičić was inspired during the first lockdown to begin recording Bach’s iconic Partitas and Sonatas. Amid the gloom of the pandemic and restrictions on performances, Čičić travelled north – when allowed – to explore the intense rigours of Bach’s fugues and shining virtuosity of the Partitas’ fast movements.

Neben Alfrerd Brendel, Friedrich Gulda und Paul Badura Skoda zählt auch Jörg Demus zu den Stars in der Reihe berühmter Wiener Pianisten. Der Österreicher wurde von den Klavier-Ikonen Yves Nat, Wilhelm Kempff, Walter Gieseking und Edwin Fischer unterrichtet und geprägt. Demus hat hat sich als kongenialer Liedbegleiter Fischer-Dieskaus ebenso einen Namen gemacht wie als herausragender Schumann-Interpret. Er gehört zur ersten Generation von Pianisten, die sich intensiv mit historisch-informierter Aufführungspraxis auseinandersetzten. Seit den 1960er Jahren hat er hier Pionierarbeit geleistet. Neben dem Repertoire der Wiener Klassik und der Romantik hatte er eine starke Affinität zum Barock.

Finnish guitarist Timo Korhonen has already released his own arrangements of Bach’s solo violin sonatas. Now he turns his attention to the partitas and gives fascinating interpretations of these bottomless works. Any guitarist transcribing Bach has to contend with the spirit of Segovia but Korhonen manages convincingly to carve his own path in this music, even if he doesn’t quite shake off the shade of the Spanish master.