Bach Sonatas Partitas Enes

András Schiff has recorded Bach's six partitas twice, first for Decca in 1985 and then for ECM in 2009, and both are superlative in their own ways. Schiff was then and is now a pianist possessing a fluent technique, an agile tone, and a sense of phrasing that makes counterpoint sing, but his interpretations of the Partitas have changed over 25 years. His later performances are more pointed and more poised, thoughtful, and ardent than his earlier one, but they are also less mellow and much less pedaled, with no less drive, but perhaps less lyricism. Whether Schiff's earlier or later performance appeals more will be a matter of personal taste. Less significant, perhaps, but still striking, is the difference in the quality of the sound. Decca's early digital sound, like its late stereo sound, was rich, deep, detailed, and atmospheric. ECM's late digital sound, like its early digital sound, is extremely clear and enormously immediate…

András Schiff has recorded Bach's six partitas twice, first for Decca in 1985 and then for ECM in 2009, and both are superlative in their own ways. Schiff was then and is now a pianist possessing a fluent technique, an agile tone, and a sense of phrasing that makes counterpoint sing, but his interpretations of the Partitas have changed over 25 years. His later performances are more pointed and more poised, thoughtful, and ardent than his earlier one, but they are also less mellow and much less pedaled, with no less drive, but perhaps less lyricism. Whether Schiff's earlier or later performance appeals more will be a matter of personal taste. Less significant, perhaps, but still striking, is the difference in the quality of the sound. Decca's early digital sound, like its late stereo sound, was rich, deep, detailed, and atmospheric. ECM's late digital sound, like its early digital sound, is extremely clear and enormously immediate…

Fascinating performers and audiences alike with their architectural perfection as well as their emotional range, these are works that lend themselves to very different interpretations, and on this recording it is the Bach of Finnish violinist Jaakko Kuusisto we hear. Himself a composer – as well as violinist and conductor – Kuusisto remembers beginning to study individual movements from the set at the age of ten. The music has been with him ever since, and to him ‘no other works for the violin provide a higher challenge or greater beauty’.

Martin Helmchen belongs to the category of great piano virtuosos who are also interested in early instruments: ‘One of the most thrilling moments of my life as a pianist was when I encountered the intact, original Spät & Schmahl tangent piano from 1790. My initial doubts about a pianist of today being able to master such an instrument rapidly gave way to the swelling conviction that here one could make certain things in Bach’s music sound in a way that is impossible on both the harpsichord and the modern piano. Everything here subjugated me: the colours, the symbiosis of the characteristics of the harpsichord, clavichord and early piano, the buff stop, the opening up of polyphonic textures.

When it came time for Johann Sebastian Bach to publish his Opus 1, what work do you think he picked? One of the sacred cantatas? One of the Brandenburg Concertos? One of the cello suites? No, none of the above. In 1726, Bach chose his B flat major Partita to start his publishing career – and once a year for the next five years, he published five more partitas, then collected them under the title Clavier-Übung in 1731. When it came time for Hungarian pianist András Schiff to make his major-label debut, what work do you think he picked? Yes, that's right. In 1985, Schiff released his recording of the complete partitas – and followed it with many more Bach recordings over the next few years until he'd released nearly the complete canonical works by 1996. And yes, Schiff's partitas are wonderful.