As with his magnificent recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1, Evgeni Koroliov interprets Book 2 from a pianistic angle, taking advantage of the instrument’s potential for varied colors, articulations, and dynamics, while at the same time avoiding stylistic anachronisms. There are so many details to savor, you hardly know where to begin. His unconventionally slow pace for the C minor fugue allows the contrapuntal lines to take on a more vocal quality than usual. Note how gorgeously he shapes the left hand’s often-ignored top line in the D-flat prelude and the subtle rubato with which he inflects the C-sharp minor fugue. In contrast to the D major prelude’s militant pomp, Koroliov takes an unusually brisk, nimble, and witty approach to its corresponding fugue (the A-flat fugue is similarly dispatched).
By contrast, Koroliov’s spacious, reverential way with the E major fugue recalls Glenn Gould’s similarly drawn-out mono recording. He resists Angela Hewitt’s dynamic contrivances in the difficult-to-clarify G minor fugue, achieving textural variety by means of his marvelously controlled staccato articulation. Koroliov keeps the G-sharp minor fugue’s lines afloat so that their accents fall over rather than on the barlines. The pianist’s gentle and introspective A minor prelude markedly contrasts to his bleak and hard-nosed way with its corresponding fugue. What a joy it is to experience Koroliov’s authoritative and individual Bach pianism at its best. Don’t miss this release!
