Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: 4786773
Release: 2014
Size: 1.15 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Partita (French Overture) for Harpsichord in B minor, BWV 831
01. 1. Ouverture
02. 2. Courante
03. 3. Gavotte I-II
04. 4. Passepied I-II
05. 5. Sarabande
06. 6. Bourrée I-II
07. 7. Gigue
08. 8. Echo
Aria variata alla maniera italiana, in A Minor, BWV 989
09. Aria
10. Variatio I. Largo
11. Variatio II
12. Variatio III
13. Variatio IV. Allegro
14. Variatio V. Un poco allegro
15. Variatio VI. Andante
16. Variatio VII. Un poco allegro
17. Variatio VIII. Allegro
18. Variatio IX
19. Variatio X
Concerto in D minor, BWV 974 – for Harpsichord/Arranged by Bach from: Oboe Concerto in D minor by Alessandro Marcello
20. 1. Allegro
21. 2. Adagio
22. 3. Presto
Italian Concerto in F, BWV 971
23. 1. (Allegro)
24. 2. Andante
25. 3. Presto
Even after his formal retirement from the concert stage, Vladimir Ashkenazy has continued to record. He has favored the music of Bach, and this release, which appeared in 2014 when the pianist was in his late seventies, is his third Bach release. It may be the not to pick for those curious about these late testaments of an artist one normally associated with Bach (and speaking generally, the Russians have never had that much to say about this composer). While the two earlier recordings were complete sets of pieces, this one fits better with Ashkenazy’s pianistic conception. The program consists of two major works bookending two lesser-known ones, and the fundamental variety is all to the good with Ashkenazy’s rather mercurial, but always compelling, playing. For those looking for a Bach performance untouched by the historical-performance movement, this will fill the bill; Ashkenazy does not drench the music in pedaled passages, but he applies a great diversity of articulation, with brilliant passages executed with his characteristic power, and phrasing and ornamentation are subject to the expressive needs of the moment. For fans of that, the Italian Concerto, BWV 971, has an exciting finale indeed. The two “minor” works on the program, the youthful Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989, and the Keyboard Concerto in D minor, BWV 974, a transcription of an oboe concerto by Alessandro Marcello, are a lot of fun, and Ashkenazy does not seem constrained by them in the least; they come off as a refreshing pause between the weighty treatments of the Italian Concerto and the Partita in B minor, BWV 831, here denoted a French Overture. The bottom line is that for established fans of Ashkenazy, his personality comes through here in full, and he seems to wrestle with Bach in the way the true greats do.