Bach , Partitas

The French harpsichordist Céline Frisch has an extensive discography, including many award-winning recordings devoted to Bach. Now she presents the Partitas, the famous and abundant collection of six suites that Bach composed from 1726 onwards - at the rate of one new partita per year - which he published as his Opus 1: As Céline Frisch points out, “Bach explores the possibilities of each dance in order to extend its limits deploying an intense expressive palette that ranges from the most disarming tenderness through to the most poignant distress and unbridled joy”.

David Fray, described as “perhaps the most inspired, certainly the most original Bach-player of his generation,” launched his Virgin Classics career with Bach and this is his third album to feature the composer’s keyboard music. “We shouldn’t be afraid of acknowledging the expressiveness of Bach’s music,” says Fray. “The Romantics don’t have a monopoly on expressivity!”

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.