Bach: Partitas Nos. 2, 4, & 5

Submitted by nonesuch on
genre
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Much-in-demand recitalist Goode offers the first of two discs devoted to Bach's six partitas. The pianist's performance, says the San Francisco Chronicle, "is that rare blend in which a probing analytical intelligence is joined to a profound mastery of tone, color and phrasing."

Description

For over 20 years, Richard Goode has kept the music of Bach an active part of his concert repertory. Here he brings the music to recording for the first time in his career, in an album featuring three of the composer’s partitas.

Goode, the first American to record all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, spent a long sabbatical in 1995 immersed in Bach and Chopin. (His Chopin recital disc was released in October 1997). Only after this did he feel ready to enter the studio. In performance, his approach to the C-minor partita has been called “a small miracle of sensitivity, expression and nuance” by the Los Angeles Times, and to the G Major, “utterly appropriate to a work that conveys sheer joy in virtuosity.” (New York Times) Published by Bach as a set of six in 1731 and collectively assigned the opus number 1, the partitas were conceived as a suite of dances—one of the most popular genres of instrumental music at the time. Forkel, Bach’s first biographer, wrote in 1802 that these works “made a great noise in the music world ... Keyboard compositions of such excellence ... anyone who learned to perform some of their movements well could make his fortune in the world.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced and engineered by Max Wilcox
1-7 recorded March 26, 1997 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters
8-20 recorded June 24-25, 1998 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Engineers: Dirk Sobotka, Nelson Wong, Soundbyte Productions, New York City

Design by 27.12 design ltd., NYC
Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

79483

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
49
ns_album_id
142
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
Richard Goode
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Richard Goode, piano

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
Price
0.00
UPC
075597948325BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
603497127665
  • 79483

News & Reviews

  • The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2023–24 concert season—the venue’s fifteenth anniversary season—including performances from Rhiannon Giddens, Brad Mehldau, Laurie Anderson, Kronos Quartet, and Richard Goode.

     

     

  • Richard Goode's Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas, first released on Nonesuch in 1993 and nominated for a Grammy Award, is available once again on CD, now at a new, lower price. The box set includes ten individual CD sleeves and a forty-page booklet with the original liner note by the late musicologist Michael Steinberg. "An outstanding set," exclaims the New York Times. "It is hard to think of any other artist at once technically, temperamentally and intellectually as suited to the challenges of these sonatas." The Guardian calls it "superb." Gramophone says it's "one of the finest interpretations ever put on record."

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    For over 20 years, Richard Goode has kept the music of Bach an active part of his concert repertory. Here he brings the music to recording for the first time in his career, in an album featuring three of the composer’s partitas.

    Goode, the first American to record all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, spent a long sabbatical in 1995 immersed in Bach and Chopin. (His Chopin recital disc was released in October 1997). Only after this did he feel ready to enter the studio. In performance, his approach to the C-minor partita has been called “a small miracle of sensitivity, expression and nuance” by the Los Angeles Times, and to the G Major, “utterly appropriate to a work that conveys sheer joy in virtuosity.” (New York Times) Published by Bach as a set of six in 1731 and collectively assigned the opus number 1, the partitas were conceived as a suite of dances—one of the most popular genres of instrumental music at the time. Forkel, Bach’s first biographer, wrote in 1802 that these works “made a great noise in the music world ... Keyboard compositions of such excellence ... anyone who learned to perform some of their movements well could make his fortune in the world.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Richard Goode, piano

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced and engineered by Max Wilcox
    1-7 recorded March 26, 1997 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters
    8-20 recorded June 24-25, 1998 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters
    Engineers: Dirk Sobotka, Nelson Wong, Soundbyte Productions, New York City

    Design by 27.12 design ltd., NYC
    Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

More From Richard Goode