Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Grigory Sokolov (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Grigory Sokolov
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (June 11, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Opus 111
• ASIN: B00005RCZ5
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,928 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As it was meant to be played..., January 11, 2004

By 

Linda N. McLeod (Vallejo, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (Audio CD)

Scholars have disputed the intended instrumentation of Bach's Der Kunst der Fuge for years. Many performers have cast this work for string quartet or organ, even woodwind instruments or orchestra. In my opinion, no recording has made as great a stance for the performance of these fugues on piano as this one by Grigory Sokolov. His playing has great energy and control, with enlivening dynamics that highlight the uniqueness of each fugue. In the mirror fugues, for example, he contrasts each "side of the mirror" by varying the volume and mood. What I especially enjoy about Sokolov's performance is his ability to seperate out the four different voices in the fugues. Usually this would be the chief problem with playing such a dense work as the Art of Fugue on piano, but Sokolov manages to highlight every single entrance of the theme or themes, meaning you won't be listening awestruck to just a mesh of unmelodious sound. Sokolov reveals the secrets of fugue with the clarity one would typically expect only from a performance played on multiple instruments. In the final unfinished fugue especially, the three different presented themes stand out in wonderful counterpoint without requiring any deliberate attentive listening. Also, the addition of Bach's Partita No.2 on disc 2 provides a great way to unwind after having listened to the entirety this german master's last great masterpiece.

Those of you who would normally prefer The Art of Fugue performed by an ensemble should consider this stunning performance on piano!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power, authority - and brilliant technique, December 12, 2011

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (Audio CD)

Grigory Sokolov is not as well known as he might be owing to his dislike of recording. In this, he is like another great Russian pianist, whom to my ears he most resembles: Richter. They both exude authority and commitment and are sometimes accused of being heavy-handed and percussive; indeed, I pity both the piano and its tuner once Sokolov has finished battering it into submission, yet you could never say he lacks finesse or control. His technique is quite astonishing; he knows exactly what he wants to do and does it. His liberal use of a certain staccato pointedness might for some become a mannerism but he is by no means as wilful as Gould and that clarity is especially suited to bringing out the "voices" in Bach and avoiding any Romantic soupiness. He is able to play this unfinished masterpiece as if it were an animated conversation amongst four mighty intellects and his tone is unfailingly round and beautiful.

I had previously belonged to the camp convinced that the most palatable way to hear this music was in arrangements of the kind Marriner gave us years ago on Philips, employing a variety of instruments, but I am now a convert to the purity and unity conferred on this mighty work by so persuasive anadvocate for its performance on the modern piano as Sokolov. He does not seem to me to admit any ego in to his interpretation; this is as close as it gets to a performer sounding a like a channel for Bach's spirit yet it is no more anonymous than it is obtrusive.

The 1982 digital sound is very acceptable. The fluid, refined Partita is a lovely bonus - an ideal companion piece.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent piano interpretation, December 14, 2002

By 

Max Berglund (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (Audio CD)

Albeit not a technically perfect recording, Sokolov's 1982 reindition of the Art of Fugue is on par with Nikolayeva's and in some areas even surpasses hers. Sokolov has a better drive in many of the fugues -- e.g. contrapunctus #4 and #9 -- and he also has an ability of separating the different voices in an almost uncanny manner. The somewhat stacatto playing might not appeal to everyone, though I think it's used with sense and only when called for: to chisel out themes which easily get jumbled on the piano where it's not as easy for the ear to keep the many different lines apart compared to recordings of the Art of Fuge on other instruments as for example string quartett. Sokolov has a very humble and sensitive approach towards the closing unfinished fugue; it stays tranquil and personal, which is not the case of Nikolayeva who to me comes out a bit too bold, majestic and alien. If you want to listen to the Art of Fugue on the piano, get both this and Nikolayeva -- they're both extremely good and won't disappoint anyone. The "bonus" 2nd partita is played a tad harsh, but the last movement, the cappricio, is not to be missed: exact and powerful without losing grace and beauty.