Customer Reviews

Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge

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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!

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.

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.

many people have played bach before and even more will play later. sokolov plays bach like no one else did.
out of recent crop of bach's interpreters only till fellner, helen grimaud and piotr anderszewski seems to relate to his approach.
sokolov has no attitude, no overwrought concept. what he does is really difficult to verbalize.
for one it is a reading eerie in it's unhurried precision, steely resistance to "interpretative" urges. this is deep listening. listening to bach. nothing else. all outside world is shut out. what emerges is a symbiotic conversation of two masters. they get each other and a listener is privy to the conversation.
that is a kind of unsentimental intimacy that seems to be required to hear and play relevant bach.
sokolov is cherishing his obscurity in us. clearly the folksy appeal and sentimentalizing manner of the likes of yo yo ma that easily translates into sales is apparently unacceptable to him.
here is an uniquely gifted and profoundly original artist with overwhelming technique, magnificent touch and interpretive capacities of a philosopher. he does not record often, not even frequently. so get this record and whatever is available while it is within reach.
it is a playing in the class of it's own.

After many years of Glenn Gould and Bach, I am saturated and cannot hear a note of Gould nor of Bach, and my least favorite CD is Sokolov's Bach, although this pianist is my favorite.

One fine day, in my car, in tropical Florida, in the breeze, watching the pelicans fly above the blue sea, in the sunset, I listened to my Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov playing Bach, and suddenly my meaningless life was beautiful again.

There was an intensity never heard before, a sadness so profound it made me weep, waves of forgotten emotions overwhelming me. I understood Sokolov played Bach the way I wanted Bach to be, moving, complex, subtle, passionate, deep, unpredictable.

I will buy any CD played by Sokolov, he is truly my pianist, the one who can express what I want to hear. He has those magic fingers that are so fine and powerful, graceful and passionate, forever changing, just like life, with its joys and sorrows.

If you are captivated by J.S. Bach, and you have been infatuated by Glenn Gould's piano performances, especially of Bach, then you are truly in for a treat with this CD. Grigory Sokolov's performance here is frighteningly beautiful. It's true, he doesn't hum-m-m, nor sing along with his playing, and he also doesn't mystify you with a "catch-you-off-guard" rubato like Glenn often does (and this does have it's place, ...I think!?). And, this is not to say that I have fallen out with Glenn's performances, which I haven't, ...however, the power and the way Sokolov pushes the music with such emotional force, adding in the sparkling, clean brillance of his stacatto of the upper register of his piano, simply shakes the entire CNS (central nervous system). Two of the best examples of this are both on the second CD; Track #5: Canon 17 alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta, and Track #10 Rondeau in Partita Nr. 2 in C-minor. Put these on "Rep 1" (repeat) on your CD player, turn down/off all bass and extra-bass supplements, turn up the tenor control, crank up the volume and ...sail away! If only for these two tracks the whole CD would be worth purchasing, ...however, the entire Art of Fugue and, yes, the Partita (Nr. 2) are truly worth having.

I do not doubt Sokolov's technical mastery, but I find this recording simply too idiosyncratic. For the same reason, I am definitely not a Glenn Gould fan. If you enjoy listening to Sokolov, get this album. If you want to listen to Bach wiithout having the persona and eccentricity of the pianist intrude on what you're listening to, look elsewhere. The staccato style of his playing is not in the least bit interesting -- it's simply distracting and annoying. At times I'm not sure if I'm listening to Bach or to Count Basie. This is a wondrously deep and profound piece of music. Sokolov makes it sound silly. A waste of an obviously great talent and a very good quality recording. (I love Count Basie by the way, but not as interpreter of Bach!)