Igor Levit - Bach: Partitas (2014) [Official Digital Download - 24bit/96kHz]

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Igor Levit - Bach: Partitas (2014) [Official Digital Download - 24bit/96kHz]

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Igor Levit has recorded Bach's Partitas BWV 825-830. It is the second release by the 27-year-old pianist, whom many regard as the greatest talent of his time, on Sony Classical. With his debut album, featuring the late Beethoven sonatas, Levit received critical acclaim and awards from international publications and organisations.

After Beethoven, Levit now turns his attention to Bach:

"It's simply amazing what Bach could do!" Levit exclaims "He had a command of form second to none. Take the long slow movement of Partita no. 6: at the end it's not a sarabande any more, but a crazy, radical free fantasy – incredibly emotional, it stands no comparison. It really shakes you up. This is music of the utmost perfection!"

And of the minuet from Partita no. 5, BWV 829 Levit says: "this is a humorous piece, not a minuet! And then suddenly it is one. And then it isn't."

Igor Levit has worked his way meticulously towards the famous Bach partitas. He read, studied and played music that came before Bach. While he was pursuing his research, he didn't play Bach at all. And then he spent three or four years on the partitas without performing them in concert until he had the feeling he had finally mastered the scores and could do them justice.

In the intervening period since his first album was released, the young pianist has become more laid-back, and that is immediately apparent from a comparison of the two albums. When he recorded the Beethoven sonatas, Levit seemed to be hurling all his strength at the keyboard, battling the elements, as it were. In the Bach partitas, a relaxed distance can be felt; a happy calm that makes it easy for the pianist to enjoy performing the music to the full.

"For the first time in my life, I have the feeling that the way I play now is just right for me" he says. "Everything comes together, inwardly and programmatically. I can see light at the end of the tunnel, and that's where I want to go. Since then, I've felt immensely relaxed. It's true that I had to struggle with every note from the Bach just like with Beethoven – but this time I enjoyed the struggle."

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Igor Levit

Reviews: Russian pianist Igor Levit, trained in Austria and Germany, gained good festival notices and a New Generation Artist nod from the BBC. For his initial recordings he has confidently chosen repertoire that is usually thought to take some life experience to master: first the late Beethoven sonatas, and here Bach's six "Partitas for keyboard, BWV 825-830." The partitas receive subjective, frankly pianistic readings less often than they used to, and for Levit the recording is a gutsy move. He relies less on pedal (like the big piano names of the old days) or extreme tempos (like Gould, although a few of his scherzos and finales are unusually quick) than on articulation combined with small variation in speed to define each partita and each movement with a free and distinctive spirit. The slow movements, with feathery trills and plenty of expressive space, are exceptionally beautiful, and the entire concept is thought out in detail; when Levit takes a fixed tempo, that actually stands out and becomes the point of the movement where it occurs. This kind of Bach is clearly not for everybody, but it's both original and executed with steely perfection. Mention must also be made of Sony's tremendous sound from a Berlin radio studio, capturing Levit's work in granular detail and imparting just the right measure of intimate intensity.

"A new pianistic voice, the Russian-German Igor Levit (b. 1987) boldly entered the recording scene last year with late Beethoven sonatas. Here he moves back to Bach and is equally stimulating. Every note in these six Partitas crackles with life: this may not please lovers of 'objective' Bach: the sound is bright and brilliant but can be hard, and some speeds are eccentric: the whizz-bang Scherzo in the Third Partita makes the Gigue sound plodding. What won me over is a rhythmic flexibility that reflects the structure of these wonderful movements, like the little pause at the top of the second half of the Second Partita's dazzling Capriccio." –Nicholas Kenyon, The Observer

Russian pianist Igor Levit, trained in Austria and Germany, gained good festival notices and a New Generation Artist nod from the BBC. For his initial recordings he has confidently chosen repertoire that is usually thought to take some life experience to master: first the late Beethoven sonatas, and here Bach's six Partitas for keyboard, BWV 825-830. The partitas receive subjective, frankly pianistic readings less often than they used to, and for Levit the recording is a gutsy move. He relies less on pedal (like the big piano names of the old days) or extreme tempos (like Gould, although a few of his scherzos and finales are unusually quick) than on articulation combined with small variation in speed to define each partita and each movement with a free and distinctive spirit. The slow movements, with feathery trills and plenty of expressive space, are exceptionally beautiful, and the entire concept is thought out in detail; when Levit takes a fixed tempo, that actually stands out and becomes the point of the movement where it occurs. This kind of Bach is clearly not for everybody, but it's both original and executed with steely perfection. Mention must also be made of Sony's tremendous sound from a Berlin radio studio, capturing Levit's work in granular detail and imparting just the right measure of intimate intensity.