J.S. Bach: English Suites Nos. 1, 3 and 5 - Piotr Anderszewski
Bach's famous harpsichord pieces given a new, pianistic twist. Classic FM Drive Featured Album, 17 November 2014
Polish-born Piotr Anderszewski is no stranger to playing Bach’s English Suites. He first recorded them more than 10 years ago. But time and experience has honed his expressive interpretations. His 2013 Bach concert performances prompted The Guardian to describe them as “some of the most sublime piano playing London has witnessed all season”.
The works, originally written for harpsichord, are transformed in Anderszewski’s versions. “The wonderful thing,” he says, “is that the modern piano can suggest so many instruments. It can suggest the voice, the orchestra, even percussion instruments. It can also suggest the harpsichord. Playing Bach on the piano, it’s really all about suggestion.”
These are distinctly individual performances, which, while played with dazzling accuracy, take Bach’s familiar originals and turn them into richly resonant, at times even impressionistic and dramatic, piano pieces in their own right.
