We are well past the debates over piano vs. cemballo/harsichord in Bach keyboard works, right? I think it has been established, at least since Glenn Gould's lead, that Bach can be and should be performed on both, and that his music is so architecturally sound as to work on any number of instrumental timbres, real or imaginary. Gould defended his use of piano for numerous reasons, with the caveat that one aim above all to keep Bach's lines neat, and his dynamics intrinsically proportional. In other words, little if any use of the sustain pedal, avoidance of gratuitous, pianistic effects, and emphasis on clarity of counterpoint.

By these criteria, Murray Perahia passes the test of acceptable translation of Bach to piano. I happen to agree with Gould on the merits of these standards (in other words, excessive rubato, pedal, etc. are almost offensive in Bach on piano), and so I mention all to clear any preliminary questions about Perahia's choice of instrument, and his execution. In all regards, he approaches Bach with surpassing elegance, fine taste, and intelligence. His lines are always clear-- an absolute essential for this and all Bach music-- and his tempi are regular and justly chosen in every case.

Perahia is well known for his classical and Romantic interpretations-- especially his Mozart and Chopin. More recently he has turned his attention to Baroque repetoire, and the world is richer for his efforts. His Handel Suites recording is astonishing for its virtuosity and dynamism, and his recent Bach recordings, including the complementary set of English Suites and the Goldberg Variations, have been milestones both in Perahia's career, and in the history of recorded Bach on piano. They rate up there with Gould and Andras Schiff.

Is there any need to "sell" the music itself? These English Suites (this disc features half of the total set, numbers 1 in A Major, 3 in g minor, and 6 in d minor) are some of the loveliest things Bach ever wrote for keyboard. They combine the contrapuntal ingenuity of his fugal craft (usually in the book-end movements of each Suite), with the intensely expressive, melodic and harmonically rich music that characterizes his adaptation of the galant style of his contemporaries in France and Italy. If the Well Tempered Clavier represents (on the whole) a pairing side by side of the looser, improvisatory feel of the prelude with the strict form of canons and fugues, the English Suites represent a global integration of both types at varying degrees of strictness and melodic freedom, throughout. The intermingling of the fugal and galant make for very enjoyable listening (and repeated, life long re-listening), and always provide new textures and lines upon different hearings.

Perahia is deeply attuned to this music. He captures its spiritual essence (after all, Bach devoted all his music to God), but also its earthy, dance-infused rhythms and melodies. The Suites are based on dance forms (e.g. Courante, Gavotte, Allemande, Sarabande), and they borrow their basic meter and tempi from these forms, but Bach abstracts them, and brings them to an apotheosis of their genre.

Perahia's repeats are filled with nuances and ornamentation that is hair-raising in its delicateness and finesse. He makes the recording sound fresh and effortless, while avoiding the idiosyncratic tempo or attack-- things associated with Gould's interpretations, and that have divided listeners into two camps, for and against. Perahia could not make enemies with this recording; it feels timeless and ingenious like the music itself.

I particularly enjoy the two suites here in minor mode; perhaps it is my disposition, or perhaps I simply like these pieces more from extensive exposure. Perahia's rendering of the Prelude of the 6th Suite in d minor is one of the most powerful I have ever heard, regardless of performer or piece. The middle movements of the same suite are imbued with a delicacy of touch and phrasing that relate them to the overall structure of the Suite, which is closed with a forceful, relentless piece of contrapuntal composition, the Gigue. The g minor Suite is no less commanding an interpretation, replete with Perahia's trademark elegance, technical mastery, and subtlety of emotional coloring.

My only wish is that these and the other English Suites Perahia recorded later in the year were issued together in one box. But that is a small quibble in an otherwise transcendent and polished recording.

Recommended: Yes