A belated thank you for your support, Antonio.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Johann Sebastian Bach - French Suites (Murray Perahia)


Information

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

CD1:
  • (01-05) French Suite No. 1 in D minor, BWV 812
  • (06-11) French Suite No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813
  • (12-17) French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814
CD2:
  • (01-07) French Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 815
  • (08-14) French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
  • (15-22) French Suite No. 6 in E major, BWV 817

Murray Perahia, piano
Date: 2016
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4796565

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

A Standard-Setting DG Debut for Murray Perahia

With the Six French Suites, Murray Perahia’s first release under contract to Deutsche Grammophon continues his standard-setting Bach legacy that began at Sony Classical with the English Suites in 1997 and 1998. That it took three years for the present 2013 sessions to finally appear is not important; what matters most is that they reveal Perahia’s Bachian mastery at full capacity.

The pianist’s full and luminous sonority almost disguises the fact that he mainly achieves his clear line playing and colorfully subtle textures through finger power and hand balance, pedaling ever so sparingly. Each of the opening Allemande movements unfolds with spacious eloquence and subtle tonal gradations. If the C minor and B minor Courantes don’t quite match András Schiff’s supple lilt, the E major decidedly does so, and with more pointed voice leading at that.

Perahia’s Menuets are gorgeously articulated, with imaginative and meaningful shifts in emphasis on the repeats and a sense of “air” between the notes that is easier to perceive than to describe. He phrases the E major Gigue’s imitative writing more cogently than any other pianist I’ve heard on disc, and treats the D minor Gigue’s dotted rhythms with the swagger of a French Ouverture, as opposed to Schiff’s faster triple meter conception. Note, too, the C minor Gigue’s quickly flickering ornaments on the repeats.

Those who find the detached notes in Schiff’s E major Bourrée somewhat arch (or, as my British colleagues might say, “a mite twee”) will appreciate how Murray Perahia’s heftier reading yields nothing in regard to buoyancy and drive. The central Sarabandes typify Perahia’s “seasoned simplicity” with their combination of lyrical introspection and shapely mobility, and in the way they ruminate without dragging. I have no hesitation in placing Perahia’s French Suites alongside–and at times a step or two above–our longstanding Schiff and Hewitt piano reference versions.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/js-bach-french-suites-nos-1-6-bwv812-817
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-J-S-French-Suites-CD/dp/B01LB464QW

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from Italy and France. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

***

Murray Perahia (born April 19, 1947 in New York) is an American concert pianist and conductor. Perahia studied with Mieczysław Horszowski at Mannes College, and also attended Marlboro Music School, where he studied with musicians Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, and Pablo Casals, among others.. Besides his solo career, he is active in chamber music and appeared regularly with the Guarneri and Budapest String Quartets. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with which he records and performs. He is loved for his warm, gentle, smooth and lyrical qualities of playing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Perahia

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks
Links in comment
Enjoy!

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this amazing post!!! So very generous of you. Your hard work is appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Muito Obrigado. Saudações Cariocas......

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Choose one link, copy it to your browser's address bar, wait 5 seconds, then click on 'Skip Ad' (or 'Continue') (top right).
    If you are asked to download anything, IGNORE, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If MEGA shows 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' message, try to create a free account.

    CD1
    http://biastonu.com/2Ech
    or
    https://ouo.io/xtcqQx
    or
    http://uii.io/kdmke

    CD2
    http://biastonu.com/2Eci
    or
    https://ouo.io/5IQxLc
    or
    http://uii.io/h6l8N

    ReplyDelete