Here’s an uneven though inexpensive taster for anyone wishing to sample piano versions of Bach’s solo keyboard concertos through varied interpretive perspectives. I’ve always enjoyed Vladimir Ashkenazy’s 1965 recording of the D minor concerto for its healthy vigor and unaffected musicality, notwithstanding leaner, more stylishly ornamented versions that have come to pass in the subsequent four decades. What’s more, Decca’s ample, vivid sonics haven’t aged at all. By comparison, Alicia de Larrocha’s tasteful yet less involved F minor concerto (also conducted by David Zinman) makes a pallid impression (her solo Bach for Decca is better).
Leading the D major concerto from the keyboard, Olli Mustonen’s hyper-detailed pianism, micromanaged articulation, and contrived dynamic schemes transform this wonderful work into high artifice. Fortunately, the organic, chamber-like give-and-take between András Schiff and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe bring the Fourth and Seventh concertos back into the human realm, where they belong. In fact, Schiff runs neck and neck with Murray Perahia when it comes to my recommending a complete Bach concerto cycle featuring a single pianist.
