cornell@operamail.com | San Francisco, CA USA | 11/12/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have read previous reviews of this interpretation and I was saddened to see comments from people who must have very little musical training judging by how badly they miss the boat on this marvelous recording. Yes, if you are for smoke and mirrors you'll like other interpretations, but if you truly know and appreciate the SPIRIT in which Bach wrote these pieces you can never like any other interpretation (of those released to date, of course) better than Schiff's. There is an inner beauty in Shiff's subdued approach that perfectly exemplifies what Bach had to say in these suites. So, if you can only appreciate the flashy style--which is so foreign to Bach and this particular music--then yes, by all means, look somewhere else."
This is piano music for life.
Charles Ryder | Tokyo | 11/20/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've had this Schiff recording for nigh on ten years and have yet to hear a better one. Bach's English Suites, particularly number three, are so ahead of their time it's scary. So personal, so emotional, and yet technically not his most sophisticated or respected works. Why?? Whatever can be said of them I think them sublime. Schiff, perhaps better known for his flawless treatment of Schubert's revered piano sonatas (London), gives a magical rendering to some of the great composer's more thoughtful music. If you're not convinced of the romantic and ground-breaking aspect of these suites, listen to the "Courante" and "Sarabande" of suite three in G minor. These brief movements are unutterably beautiful. Although sometimes a little too technical for his own good, Schiff is more than faithful to what I think Bach had in mind. Again, this is piano music for life."
Superlative bach
stephen s. | chicago | 08/11/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Schiff's delicate touch and resonant musicianship are perfect for these 'simple' old dances as transfigured by the hand of JSB. This is playing that is fully in the moment, the notes falling like pearls; You will be rapt three bars into the Sarabande of #1 - and in love with that stately form before the end. The extraordinary chromaticism the the polyphony wanders through is fully reveled in Schiff's slow tempi. What a piano, what a pianist, what a work! Somewhere, Bach is smiling!"
"
Two great pianists of the past, have literally made personal and almost unsurpassable landmarks in the English Suites: Rosalyn Tureck with the superb version of the third suite and then Glenn Gould 's emblematic and overwhelming performances.
Nevertheless ,it `s worthy to remark the distinguished refinement and eloquent expressiveness of Andras Schiff in these formidable and always rewarding sets of the music of musicians, the oldest musicians of the future: Johan Sebastian Bach.
Schiff has expanded and enriched even more his extraordinary and well selected repertoire. This Hungarian pianist is actually one of the most pyramidal pianists all over the world. The accurate phrasing, the velvet sound and the zealous fingering, enviable articulation and sheer musicality denote and suggest a bulletproof musical commitment and so a mesmerizing sound, plenty of freshness and powerful imagination.
Under any reason you should miss these stand-out performances.
"
Quality recording.
Hiram Gomez Pardo | 08/06/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I realise that many people do not appreciate Schiff's interpretation of this piece. I have listened to many other pianists' version of the English Suites, including Gould's, Peraiha's (spelling?), etc. but I still think that Schiff's interpretation of this work is excellent enough to be worth buying. Maybe not Schiff's best, but that's still better than a lot of others'!"