Notes and Editorial Reviews
"Collectors looking for a new version of the Partitas played on the piano should find plenty to enjoy here, and food for thought. Schiff seems to me to be seeking to project each Partita as an entity, as a single span, rather than as a simple collection of pieces unified by nothing more than key, as one would often find in a Suite de piêces by a contemporary French composer. In this I think he's rather successful. In the G major Partita, for example, it's pleasantly startling to hear the Allemande following attacca on the theatrical downward scale with which the Praeambulum ends, and to be pitched into an exciting account of the Gigue hard on the heels of the Passepied. Schiff's set is alive to the variety of design to be found
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in these suites, as well as to the variety of mood and character within each, and he projects the succession of movements with an ear for drama as well as contrast. I find this a welcome and positive feature of the set.
The playing is exceptionally fresh, tingling with a physical as well as intellectual vitality. The Partitas offer plenty of scope for brilliant performance and the opportunities are taken—in the Overture of the D major, for instance, where the main section is splendid at SchifFs sparkling pace. The vivacious Italian Corrente—there are four of them in the Partitas—is a movement he does particularly well, with the jets of semiquavers playing like fountains; yet there's never a hint of fingers running away with the sense. And brilliance is balanced by an equally sure touch with the more reflective types of piece, the Allemandes especially. A measure of gravitas may be missing from some of the Sarabandes, and of grandeur and sweep from a big opening movement such as the Toccata of the E minor, but the playing is unfailingly articulate and communicative."
-- S.P., Gramophone [11/1984]
Review of original LP.
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Works on This Recording
Sound Samples
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 1. Praeludium
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 2. Allemande
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 3. Corrente
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 4. Sarabande
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 5. Menuet I
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 6. Menuet II
Partita No.1 in B flat, BWV 825: 7. Giga
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 1. Sinfonia (Grave adagio - Andante)
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 2. Allemande
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 3. Courante
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 4. Sarabande
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 5. Rondeaux
Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826: 6. Capriccio
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: 1. Toccata
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: 2. Allemande
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: Corrente - Air
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: 5. Sarabande
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: 6. Tempo di gavotta
Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830: 7. Gigue
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: 1. Fantasia
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: 2. Allemande
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: 3. Corrente
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: Sarabande - Burlesca
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: 6. Scherzo
Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827: 7. Gigue
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 1. Overture
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 2. Allemande
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 3. Courante
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 4. Aria
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 5. Sarabande
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 6. Menuet
Partita No.4 in D , BWV 828: 7. Gigue
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 1. Praeambulum
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 2. Allemande
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 3. Corrente
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 4. Sarabande
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 5. Tempo di minuetto
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 6. Passepied
Partita No.5 in G, BWV 829: 7. Gigue
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