Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Murray Perahia, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields :: Murray Perahia Plays Bach

A dazzling performance.

11/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bravissimo! Perahia's dazzling performance culminates in the cadenza in the first movement of the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. This superb recording stands in stark contrast with the boring antiquarian stuff of the "historically informed" performance fad that may have prevented an entire generation of music fans from enjoying an important pianistic tradition connected with this concerto. I do not know of any recording of this concerto played on a modern piano since the legendary mono recording by Edwin Fischer made in the 1950s. The Triple Concerto and the Italian Concerto also give splendid testimony of exquisitely shaded modern piano performances. Highly recommended."

Just about as good as it gets...

R. G. W. Brown | Tustin, CA, USA | 07/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Exquisite. Just forget academic hang-ups about period versus modern instruments etc - and listen to the music - and the sheer musicianship - which is sublime on this disc. Bach often arranged for different instruments quite freely, like most good composers, so he would most-likely have thoroughly enjoyed his work played on a piano instead of a harpsichord - and it is such enjoyment to let this music wash-over you wherever you are - driving, relaxing, whatever.



Perahia is at his usual level of perfection, energy and enthusiasm, and for me, the smooth and subtle playing of Kenneth Sillito's violin - and especially Jaime Martin's flute - is the real bonus - beautifully and sensitively crafted phrasing throughout both the Brandenburg 5th and the Concerto for flute, violin and clavier.

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Beautiful if nonstandard rendition of Bach

R. G. W. Brown | 12/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The centerpiece of this CD is Perahia's performance of the Fifth Brandenburg. Perahia bites into it like what it is--the first piano concerto. True, he doesn't play it on a harpsichord and disregards almost everything the past 20 years or so of musical scholarship have told us about period performance. On the other hand, Beethoven, Chopin, and the rest of the 19th century composers played Bach with their own hands, and they probably played him like this. The result wasn't the exact sound Bach had in mind when he put pen to paper, but it was the sound that inspired the great keyboard literature of that century. To listen to Perahia play this is to hear the granddaddy of piano concertos anew. Anyone who loves Bach already has a couple Brandenburg recordings; this is a nice compliment to them. Anyone who loves 19th century piano music deserves a taste of this, too. Then Perahia throws in the triple concerto, which just doesn't get recorded enough, and the Italian concerto, which any Bach lover is going to already know well. Sound quality and engineering are impeccable."