With Glenn Gould’s untimely death in 1982, the time was ripe for András Schiff’s formidable gifts as a Bach interpreter to garner international attention–and rightfully so. Although Schiff admired and was influenced by Gould, he approaches Bach on the piano quite differently. For instance, Schiff’s warm, luminous tone contrasts with Gould’s gaunt, stripped-down sonority, drawing inspiration from the grandeur and flexibility of tempo that typifies Bach performances from pianists such as Edwin Fischer and Miecyslaw Horszowski. At the same time, Schiff always has kept up with the latest scholarship in regard to embellishment and articulation. As you listen to Schiff in the Partitas, English Suites, French Suites, and the B minor French Overture, you can’t help but notice both the way the pianist’s tempos accurately pinpoint the music’s dance origins and the improvisatory feeling with which he imbues the ornaments on the repeats.
All too often the Inventions and Sinfonias are treated like perfunctory practice pieces, yet their melodic richness comes utterly alive through Schiff’s easygoing contrapuntal mastery. He uses little if any sustain pedal, achieving legato effects mainly by finger control, arm weight, and hand position. Some purists may question the pianist transposing certain Goldberg Variations repeats up or down an octave, but he achieves remarkable textural differentiation in the cross-handed movements that almost fools you into thinking that he’s using two different pianos. In the years since these 1982-88 recordings first appeared, other world-class Bach piano recordings have challenged Schiff’s Decca Bach legacy (and from a sonic standpoint, surpassed it), notably Angela Hewitt’s Hyperion Bach cycle, Evgeny Koroliov’s riveting Well-Tempered Clavier, plus Murray Perahia’s equally distinct English Suites and Goldberg Variations. Still, listeners wishing to acquire the core of Bach’s keyboard music in stylish, well-groomed, and quietly joyful piano versions will find a most appealing bargain in this space-saving, budget-priced boxed set.
