Search - J.S. Bach, Academy of St Martin Fields, Marriner :: Keyboard Concertos

Bach to Perfection?

tlyyra | Brooklyn, N.Y. USA | 07/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In his Bach playing, the Russian wunderkind Andrei Gavrilov aims at staking his own ground somewhere in between the very individual styles of his declared idols, Sviatoslav Richter and Glenn Gould - not an easy ambition, given the two extremes of Gould's hyperkinetic staccato and Richter's unparallelled powers in creating his famous legato sound in whatever he touched upon. But Gavrilov succeeds magnificently, even surpassing his masters: the flowing, little-pedaled legato of his lines compromises nothing in terms of clarity, while weaving in seamlessly as but another instrumental voice the Bach keyboard represented in these early "concerto" works. It is deeply satisfying to hear a pianist of practically no technical limitations control his playing with such an impeccable sense of style, emphasis on articulation, understanding of the technical possibilities of his instrument, and loving respect for the composer. Hearing Gavrilov do Bach renders moot the whole discussion on whether this music should be played with the modern piano at all, and the enjoyably results in this recording make it a clear first choice in these works. There is nothing here of the occasional aloofness sometimes making Gavrilov sound unconcerned; all we hear is profound musicianship and a perfect harmony of souls between the performer and the great composer. An endless source of pleasure, the recording also finds Marriner more responsive and alert than usually, elevating the orchestra from its often rather pedestrian support role to the status of a like-minded partner in these sharply executed, lyrical, and rhytmically agile performances; their natural flow will make you want to play the discs over and over again.The French Suite No. 5 gives another impressive sample of Gavrilov's acclaimed Bach, but why not go and scour the shelves of used-record stores for the complete set of the suites he recorded for DG in 1995 (now out of print) - a real winner in DG's splendid 4D sound quality and the execution that, if possible, is even more fluid and natural and has accrued in depth."