Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Piotr Anderszewski :: Bach: French Suite No. 5; French Overture

A unique pianist

Peter Charleton | Dublin 6, Ireland. | 11/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe people think that the age of great interpreters and great performances is over,that there are no Lippatis,Rubensteins or Paderewskis left.There are.Here is the proof.This pianist is of Polish-Hungarian ancestry and French upbringing.His Polish grandfather was part of the resistance to Nazi tyranny and died in Aushwitz.His sister Dorota is leader of a European orchestra and they often play in public together.They have recorded together and have many dates over the next season,including Wigmore Hall in May.His programmes attack any notion that music can be popularized and include large chunks of Szymanowski,Bach and his idol Beethoven.Given the choice to record whatever he wanted on this disc he typically chose two big and uncompromising works of Bach.In Dublin in March he insisted on ending his recital with the French Suite no 5.Only a great pianist could dare an audience to focus their concentration so completely at the end of a recital that he would be given the freedom not to play at them but for himself alone.That is what he did and it worked.Here on this disc it works too.My old piano teacher used to say that if you are upset,depressed or ill then listen to Bach because it will put you in touch with absoloute truth and so with healing.This Bach has no crazed mannerisms,no self-indulgence and nothing but the priviledge of hearing one of the great pianists contemplating the infinite mystery of a mind so devoted to the truth that it enters the realm of the divine."

Bach is the best medecine

Peter Charleton | Dublin 6, Ireland. | 01/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There have been a few incomparable Bach players.Here is another.This series of recordings celebrates the emerging talent of the new generation.Very few pianists would choose to give a Bach recital;why not choose something big and show off your talent?This Polish master could'nt care less because he cares about music.He seems to say that this is what I play for myself and you can listen if you like but what I do is what the music tells me and not what sounds clever or flashy.The result needs no comparison with anyone because Anderszewski is his own man and is utterly new ,original and sings along,or declaims, with the joy of simply being alive.My old music teacher told me that if you are ever ill then listening to Bach will put you in touch with the structure of the universe and make you feel better.This disc,especially the French Suite,is worth a lot of pills and visits to psycho and other therapists."

Glenn Gould incarnated?

Peter Charleton | 02/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Piotr delivers and intersting Bach interpretation, although in a somewhat personal unorthodox way (thank God!). Not far away from Pianist God-Devil Glenn Gould in how he approaches the music. Having said that, Piotr does however not play as engaging as Gould, and often there is a certain mechanical tempo in his playing. Worth a check though if you're into Bach on piano, although Gould and Schiff are two other very strong candidates that would be my first and second choices."