Track Listing

1. Toccata in C minor, BWV 911
2. 1. Sinfonia (Grave adagio - Andante)
3. 2. Allemande
4. 3. Courante
5. 4. Sarabande
6. 5. Rondeaux
7. 6. Capriccio
8. 1. Prelude
9. 2. Allemande
10. 3. Courante
11. 4. Sarabande
12. 5. Bourrée I & II
13. 6. Gigue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78558 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 50 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Recorded in 1980 and reissued in the Deutsche Grammophon Originals series, this disc just preceded the nightmare years in which "purists" tended to consider the performance of Bach on the modern piano a crime punishable with instant death. Nevertheless, a number of the world's finest "thinking" pianists not only championed Bach consistently but have continued to produce interpretations of a depth, spirituality and power that put many players of the "right" instruments to shame. This is one such disc and it is only a pity that there is not more of it (at 50 minutes it mirrors the length of LPs). Martha Argerich presents intense, minor-key Bach: fierce but pure, finely argued and rhetorical yet never losing the rhythm of dance; expressive but contained and articulated with beautiful clarity. Her intensity is completely compelling from the very first note of the C minor Toccata onwards: she demands, seizes and holds attention at every moment. Her personal vision displays the emotional darkness at the heart of these pieces without any suggestion of mannerism or gimmick.--Jessica Duchen

Customer Reviews

Pretty much the greatest record of all time.
Unmatched in clarity, excitement, playfulness and sincerity - without affectation or sentimentality - Martha Argerich's minor-key Bach provides some of the purest intellectual and emotional transports available within all Western Art. The entire thing is stunning, but I'll single out the closing fugue of the Toccata, the "swinging" Cappricio from the Partita and the "still point" achieved in the Sarabande of the English Suite for special recommendation... oh but the way she builds the crescendo over the G major passage in the ES Prelude, say, or the silken flow of the opening phrases of the Partita Allemande, or...

This is pretty much the greatest record of all time.

A single problem: when you realize that Argerich hasn't recorded enough Bach, and this is really all you're going to get, you might begin to see it as mocking you. You may even resent it. What can we do but swallow our gall and listen on?