JS Bach - The French Suites | First Hand Records FHR070

JS Bach - The French Suites

£13.25

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Label: First Hand Records

Cat No: FHR070

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 1st November 2019

Contents

About

The second album for FHR by the award-winning, leading interpreter of J.S. Bach on piano: Alexandra Papastefanou. Here, we are presented with another classic set of keyboard works by the composer, the French Suites.

Papastefanou, Greece’s leading pianist, is now regarded worldwide as a leading exponent of Bach on the piano. Her previous recording for FHR (The Well-Tempered Clavier, 2018 [FHR65]), did incredibly well with the music press and critics (MusicWeb International Recording of the Month, The Union of Greek Theatre and Music Critics Award: Best Recording of 2018, 5 stars from BBC Music Magazine).

On listening to Alexandra’s Well-Tempered Clavier recording, the great pianist Alfred Brendel commented: ‘I find Papastefanou’s Bach riveting. This is Bach playing on a high level - full of life, controlled in all strands of the music, pianistically immaculate, and highly personal. Here is a Bach player who has lived a lifetime with this music.’

Amongst the other works featured on the album is the Keyboard Sonata, BWV964, Bach’s own transcription for keyboard of the Sonata in A minor, BWV 1003 for Solo Violin. This is rarely recorded on the piano, so it’s a welcome addition to the catalogue.

Reviews

a performance of considerable virtuosity and imagination
The Arts Desk
[Alexandra Papastefanou] is first and foremost a deeply expressive player, whose Bach speaks with tremendous stylistic assurance. She pulls off the ‘unmeasured prelude’ of the E flat French Suite with the improvisatory élan of a schooled continuo veteran. The Sarabandes, which feature as the third or fourth movement in all six Suites, exhibit wide-ranging character, yet with a beautifully poised cantabile in common. ... If you like Bach on the piano, you’ll probably take keen pleasure in these interpretations. Rather than imposing a didactic approach on her listeners, Papastefanou beckons them towards Bach by the gentle exercise of her own enthusiasm and sensibilities.  Patrick Rucker
Gramophone January 2020

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