This is a very interesting album consisting of arrangements mainly of chorales by Bach. As such it is not the type of page-turner we are normally accustomed to; instead it is meditative and ruminative, an intellectual feast that is not devoid of emotion yet hardly wallows in it.
The Ricercar from A Musical Offering opens the disc as an extended exercise in contrapuntal brilliance, notated on a full six staves. Gyorgy Kurtag contributes some fine transcriptions for piano four hands in six different chorales, expertly done with pointed voice leading and an almost orchestral palate in his sound world. Bach’s Great Organ Mass (Clavierubung III) brought the art of the chorale prelude to unprecedented heights; but many of these pieces are actually only two-manual compositions and make themselves especially suited to the piano.
Rounding out this program are the Prelude and Fugue in A minor as arranged by Liszt (from six pieces of that name) and Koroliov’s own very effective and intelligent realization of the great Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, done here in one the most effective arrangements I have heard.
Koroliov is one of the great under-the-radar-pianists playing today, though that is slowly changing. This disc won’t be for everyone, but for those with a taste for all things Bach, it will become a staple. Very clear and resonant piano sound.
Steven Ritter<< zurück