Bach, J S: Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV827

“Big effects are a hallmark of Koopman's style. The playing throughout these suites is consistently extrovert and red-blooded, with frequent changes of registration...There's rarely a sense of hesitation in Koopman's paying, even when a certain tentativeness is called for...The upside to all of this is dramatic interest and clarity.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

“Koopman is indefatigible...His enthusiasm shines through his playing, nowhere more so than in the Toccata opening Partita VI...His technique is superb, too...ornamentation is lavish and spontaneous, phrasing and articulation are cogent and inventive...Koopman's buoyant wit keeps breaking the surface.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2013 *****

“These three Bach partitas present Perahia at his most civilised. Awesome clarity in the fingerwork, yet nothing freezing into a mannerism: that’s the special hallmark of No 2. No 4 brings architectural grandeur, and a marvellously trilling courante. No 3’s sarabande twiddles its thumbs – the only spot where Perahia’s refinement outdistances feeling. Glenn Gould’s performance offers strutting quirks, but Perahia takes us close to heaven.” The Times, 18th April 2008 ****

“[Perahia's] studies at the harpsichord have encouraged a lightness of touch in his piano playing here, even in the more solid movements such as the Second Partita's opening Sinfonia, where clarity and litheness seem more important to him than over-pedalled severity. The dances are enjoyed for their contrapuntal play as much as for their rhythmic course, and Perahia's ornamentation is judicious; only an occasionally over-emphasised sectional approach to structure mars the flow.” The Telegraph, 12th April 2008

“In Murray Perahia's hands Bach's Partitas not only work well on the modern concert grand but also sound completely at home. The pianist's vibrant and variegated sonority perpetually sings, while his contrapuntal acumen leaves no detail unconsidered nor unduly fussed over.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“Perahia's articulation cuts through the most intricate paragraphs and yet there's a searching spirituality, too…” BBC Music Magazine, June 2008 *****

“truly outstanding … Perahia plays with perfect poise, clarity and intelligence, always mindful of the partitas’ perfect structure … it’s a joy from start to finish” The Observer

“Bach keyboard playing doesn't come any finer than this. A set of true distinction, most truthfully recorded.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The six Partitas are virtually a compendium of Bach's keyboard styles, with toccatas and French overtures, fugues and fantasies and all manner of dances. Trevor Pinnock rises to a new level of mastery in his new recording of them. We all know about the brilliance of his fingerwork and his beautifully sprung, ebullient rhythms; but here he goes further, showing a true grandeur of manner that embraces Bach at his most serious and pensive, his most learned, and – above all – his most vividly rhetorical.
Pinnock takes his time over the music: these are measured readings of the partitas, thought through, viewed whole. The natural and spontaneous musicianship of old is still there, but now it's given extra depth and meaning through the carefully judged articulation, JS Bach Instrumental the tiny moments of hesitation, all within a fluent larger rhythm, that lend extra point and shape to a phrase, a group of phrases, an entire musical paragraph.
The warm, rather resonant recording beautifully captures the rich sound of his instrument – a David Way copy from 1983 of a Hemsch original – as well as the detail of his playing. There could hardly have been a happier return to the recording studio for Pinnock than this fine set.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Everything has been deeply considered. Everything works. Hewitt makes a beautiful, limpid sound; her ornaments are exquisitely precise as well as sounding natural; she uses the subtle shadings and variations of volume possible on the piano without swamping the music. Technically the paying is faultless ... superbly poised, light and joyous. Indeed, that would sum up the entire set” Classic CD

“If Bach is to be played on the piano, this is the kind of way to do it. Inherent in all Hewitt's playing is a rhythmic vitality, always under control, that sweeps you along with its momentum, subtly varied articulation, dynamics that follow the natural rise or fall of phrases without exaggerations, an appreciation of Bach's harmonic tensions, an ability to differentiate between the strength of contrapuntal lines, and an unfailing clarity of texture.
This is a sane and sensible interpretation, deeply musicianly and devoid of eccentricity.
Her attitude, rather like Toscanini's, is to accept the text com' è scritto and then to make legitimate adjustments, so we get double-dotting and assimilation of rhythms. Technically she's immaculate, with the cleanest possible ornaments.
In the great E minor Sarabande Hewitt is justifiably emotional, without becoming soggy: only in the first half of the A minor Allemande is there a hint of coyness. No, the whole disc gives unalloyed pleasure.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010