On this two-disc set András Schiff plays all six of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard Partitas, BWV 825-830, in a single concert. Bach published them in 1731 as the first part of his Clavier-Übung, the first group of his works he issued himself. In his 1802 biography, Johann Nikolaus Forkel wrote that such splendid compositions for the clavier "had not been seen or heard before". Schiff had recorded them in a London studio for Decca in the early 1980s. This live recording, made after he completed his Beethoven sonata cycle for ECM, is his second account on disc.
The concert took place on 21 September 2007 at the Historischer Reitstadel in Neumarkt, a hall that ECM counts among the best piano venues in Europe. Manfred Eicher produced and Stephan Schellmann engineered. The booklet has notes by Wolf-Dieter Seiffert and an essay by Schiff. In it he writes that conducting the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor left a lasting mark on how he plays Bach.
Schiff departs from the published numbering and plays the Partitas in the order 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 6. The keys rise in a line from G major through A minor, B flat major, C minor and D major to E minor, each major key followed by a minor one. He places the weightiest partita, the sixth in E minor, last, so its Toccata and long Gigue close the evening. Each suite opens with a different kind of movement: Praeambulum, Fantasia, Praeludium, Sinfonia, Ouverture, Toccata. The Allemande of the fourth partita in D major, almost eight minutes here, is spun out as a long melody over a discreet left hand.
In the New York Times, Allan Kozinn found Schiff's articulation "could hardly be sharper", and his stamina across all six works in one sitting "extraordinary". Nicholas Kenyon in The Observer wrote simply: "This is just marvellous." Simon Thompson at MusicWeb International in November 2009 heard playing of warmth and spontaneity, and singled out the Sarabande of the B flat Partita.
This is the 2CD edition on ECM New Series, catalogue number ECM New Series 2001/02, first released on 28 August 2009.
