Bach - French Suites

The Guardian 60

Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
(Decca)

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No one has recorded longer for Decca than the fine pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, who turned 80 earlier this month. As well as a large celebratory offering of reissues, there is this one new recording. Pursuing his long interest in Bach, Ashkenazy tackles the French Suites, which may well have been written for Bach’s sons (and are not too technically demanding). Ashkenazy aims above all at clarity, and the playing is very fluent, with especially rapid-fire Courantes and noble Sarabandes, the dances always clipped and precise. It sounds natural, spontaneous, perhaps a little plain, without quite the luminosity of some other pianists in these suites.