András Schiff - J.S.Bach - Complete Keyboard Concertos (2010)

This is a very fine collection of performances of (most of) Bach's keyboard concertos. Andras Schiff has a well-earned reputation for being one of the greatest interpreters of Bach on the piano, and these performances are, for the most part, well-up to that reputation.

As a rule, I prefer historically-informed performances of Bach's orchestral and concertante ouevre, though I generally lean more toward the modern piano for his solo keyboard music. Schiff, Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter, and others have made a strong case for that. As a music historian, I am fairly certain that the master would have composed for the piano had the opportunity presented itself -- indeed, he had invested in an early fortepiano design near the end of his life. My favourite recordings of the harpsichord concertos is Trevor Pinnock's with the English Concert (also available as a boxed set).

Having said that, there is a lot to like about these performances. Schiff's deft touch and incomparable phrasing make the solo concertos an absolute delight. He COULD have played them like 19th-century piano concertos -- all passion and strong left hand, with the pedal down for every run of eighth notes -- or he COULD have played them like Gould, as if the piano was just a harpsichord with hammers. But he does neither.Rather, he finds a comfortable middle ground, exploiting the dynamics of his instrument to bring out the subtle voicing in the solo parts. His slow movement in BWV 1056, for example, is just brilliant.

The double and triple concertos, however, are much less successful. The musicianship of Schiff, Peter Serkin, and Bruno Canino is outstanding, and they approach their parts in a way that brings out their own personalities, and the personalities of the parts. But while a single piano sits comfortably in Bach's orchestrations, two, and three often overpower the forces of the chamber orchestra. I enjoyed the flutes in BWV 1057, but the voicing of a modern, silver transverse flute loses much of the subtlety of the original recorders (compare with Philip Pickett and Rachel Beckett in Pinnock's version).

Finally, the strings sound a little overly-lush and highly-polished for my taste. I'm reasonably certain that this is because I tend to listen to HIP performances of Bach, and modern stringed instruments tend to smooth-out much of the abrasive, cutting charm of period instruments. On the other hand, I do recognize that a performance of these concertos with period strings and modern pianos would bee ridiculously unbalanced. The orchestra is fine -- quite good, in fact -- but lacks the kind of subtlety that makes Bach's strings transcendent rather than merely delightful.

... But delightful is good. This would not be my first choice for the keyboard concertos, but it is certainly a worthy supplement to Pinnock's andGustav Leonhardt's performances.