PRESS REVIEWS
J.S. BACH, ENGLISH SUITES BWV 806-811
We don't know why these six Suites are called "English" each one starts with a prelude in a "fugato"
style and goes from six to eight movements. It is a keyboard which must be played like an orchestra, while he
cites, assimilates and changes the different musical styles of the time with that skill - proper to Bach - to
remain still himself. Bacchetti falls in love with this variety of writing; he never loses sight of the
complexity of the sound architecture, but he follows its beatings, its diversions, the rings that divide and
multiply the linearity of the way.His performance is very attentive to the variety of the weight of the sound, to the mobility of the narrative step and the inspiration of the moment charms him perhaps more than the rule does ...
Classical Notes Suites and Variations, how different Bach is
La Stampa - March 18th, 2006 Sandro Cappelletto
... The young pianist, grown up at Imola school, penetrates into Bach's universe through the door of sound,
so affecting, full of passion, but paying attention to formal structures. Invention and law.
Music Cultured - CDs to be bought, CDs to be avoided
Specchio - March 25th, 2006 Sandro Cappelletto
... The young Andrea Bacchetti faces Bach from a definitely personal point of view, with very refined
sonorities (also the quality of the recording is excellent, on a Fazioli piano), very pianistic, warm and
enveloping sonorities, always supported by the pedal. ... the phrasing is animated by delicate shades and
by a meticulous work on timbre.
Just in the timbre we must notice one of the most peculiar Bacchetti's features, because if the dynamics are contained, according to a philological perspective, the colour of the sound remains dark and the touch is far from the incisiveness with whom most of modern performers play Bach, Andras Schiff above all. Bacchetti's approach is an analytical one, which on one hand shows off the structure of Bach's counterpoint, on the other hand the secret and totally inner "singability" ... with results of extraordinary poetry. It's an uncommon fact when a young man comes to a Bach's vision that is so original and coherent at the same time ... an intellectual and ascetical Bach, totally inward, far away from tangible world ... it's impossible non to recognize his charm. ...
Just in the timbre we must notice one of the most peculiar Bacchetti's features, because if the dynamics are contained, according to a philological perspective, the colour of the sound remains dark and the touch is far from the incisiveness with whom most of modern performers play Bach, Andras Schiff above all. Bacchetti's approach is an analytical one, which on one hand shows off the structure of Bach's counterpoint, on the other hand the secret and totally inner "singability" ... with results of extraordinary poetry. It's an uncommon fact when a young man comes to a Bach's vision that is so original and coherent at the same time ... an intellectual and ascetical Bach, totally inward, far away from tangible world ... it's impossible non to recognize his charm. ...
Reviews CD - BACH, English Suites
Musica - nr. 175, April 2006 Luca Segalla
... Bach is perfectly proper to the critical "pianistism" of the young Genoese artist, meticulous
in his unravelling the contrapuntal plots, self-possessed in his dynamic choices ... then the reading of
English Suites showed in this CD is beautiful. With a brilliant technique Bacchetti transfer Bach's
harpsichord atmospheres to the keyboard of his piano in an architectonic vision of lucid expositive and
emotional conceit ...
Reviews CD - "Andrea's Bach"
The Journal of Music - nr. 4 2006 Roberto Iovino
... A complete pianist who has already a complete mastery of all his means, Andrea Bacchetti, endowed
with a faultless technique that yet never becomes useless virtuosity but instead essential support to
interpretative choices that are clear sighted and sometimes keen, always very coherent ... Andrea
Bacchetti proposes a totally pianistic Bach, without letting the shadows of philology and of the
fathers of interpretations awe himself, without renouncing a density of timbre and sound which is
daughter of our contemporaneusness ...
Music - Bach, our contemporary
Quadrivio - April 2006 Sergio Garbato
After Decca CD published in 2001 with Luciano Berio's pianistic compositions, which consecrates
Bacchetti as a favoured witness of his Master's heritage ... now the double record (always for Decca)
with six Bach's English Suites onfirms Bacchetti as a great performer ... Rigour and imagination
are those categories which are the foundations of pages composed like a systematic reiteration of
a precise structural pattern ... rigour and imagination are categories displayed by Bacchetti
within a performance which stands out for its beauty of sound, for the grace-notes: pieces to be
listened and re-listened to with renewed wonder ...
Classical Music - Bacchetti, ex-wonder child, plays Bach thinking of Berio
Il Piccolo - April 3rd, 2006 Stefano Bianchi
... Andrea Bacchetti belongs to the narrow crowd of young Italian pianist honouring our
"concertism" ... A reading of English Suites that is worthy of the highest esteem from
philological and stylistic side, a reading that convinces us again that Kantor from Lipsia's works
played on the modern "Gran Coda" instead of on the original harpsichord don't play out
of tone at all, confuting the traditionalist ...
Column - News in CD
La Cittadella - April 7th, 2006 Dino Gatti
What makes Bacchetti's performance particularly captivating is the sense of naturalness of the talking
that he takes out from the writing; without neither forcings nor transgressions, obviously, but as if
it was driven by an internal vitality which doesn't necessarily mean scorching the earth and going fast,
under the digital goad that such pages are able to trigger off. The talking moves with a pleasantly
enveloping pace ... with a taste, a measure, a fragrance that - showing a right emancipation from the
mortgage of the harpsichord that sounds a bit forced in many executions - rescues these extraordinary
pages from that sense of graceful stylisation that often becomes "manner" ...
Performance - The Classical at the disco
Gazzetta di Parma - April 18th, 2006 g.p.m.
... The worthy initiative of record company Decca goes on: this initiative highlights the best
Italian talent through a series of monographic portraits that were specularly built between author
and interpreter. ... Andrea Bacchetti, swift, rational, with an astonishing geometrical precision
reads English Suites projecting them into the future with a tenth-century sensitivity ...
Music - The CDS of the ":Il Sole"
Il Sole 24Ore - nr.117 April 30th, 2006 C.M.
All the pianists of the new generation come up to Bach trying to vivify the phrasing and the colours,
through the peculiar brilliance that comes from a very coarse-grain articulation of harpsichord. And
Andrea Bacchetti, who is the esteemed Italian representative of that generation, isn't an exception,
even in Preludes and in Dances of the so called six English Suites, he never overdoes and he finds an
already mature balance between modernity and tradition. Well-pondered
Classical - Passed and failed candidates
Io Donna Weekly of Corriere della Sera - April 30th, 2006 Enrico Girardi
... Completely inside the world of Bach's Suites, Andrea Bacchetti performed them all in a series of
concerts, and now a double CD comes out with six English Suites Bwv 806-811, a recording which - just
in relation to live exhibitions - can be considered a fixed point, a verge of maturity ... Andrea
Bacchetti, - this is a well-known fact - has in his artistic DNA the contemporary language (Berio
pronounced praising words for the Genoese pianist, electing him as an interpreter of absolute level
of his music). A language which leads like an upside-down telescope Bacchetti's approach towards all
that goes backwards, as far as music is concerned. ... A clear and rigorous interpretation, a Bach who
is driven by pure language that shapes himself on the language of dance with fancy, dream lightings
of detached gallantry, without overdoing, without anything unfounde ...
CD and Video - Bach, English Suites
DDD / Booklet: suff. / italian / 080506 - Artistic score: 
, Technic score:
Amadeus - May 2006 Nicoletta Sguben
FULL ARTICLE italian
... a lively personality, driven by a slight inquietude and by a cultural curiosity that leads him
towards the most various haunts, on the soloist ground as well as on the chamber one. ... What makes
Bacchetti's performance particularly captivating is the sense of naturalness of the talking that he
takes out from the writing; without neither forcings nor transgressions, obviously, but as if it was
driven by an internal vitality which doesn't necessarily mean scorching the earth and going fast,
under the digital goad that such pages are able to trigger off. The talking moves, passing from a
dancer to another, with a pleasantly enveloping pace ... with a taste, a measure, a fragrance that
- showing a right emancipation from the mortgage of the harpsichord that sounds a bit forced in many
executions - rescues these extraordinary pages from that sense of graceful stylisation that often
becomes "manner" ...
PIANO - Bach, English Suites
Classic Voice - June 2006 Gian Paolo Minardi
... Fazioli piano moderates with the amber colour of its voice the sharp sonorities and the
performer's Enlightement objectivity; Andrea Bacchetti often abandons himself to moments of
intense timbre and psychological sensibility ...
Reviews - English Suites BWV 806-811
ELLE Classic - June 2006 Elsa Airoldi
... In the eternal dilemma whether exploit or not the greater chances of expression and colour of
piano in comparison with harpsichord, Andrea Bacchetti finds a point of balance, between philology
and "modern"" freedom. Then, if the dynamics are restrained with uniformity and without
excessive sudden variations in favour of a linearity that makes the clearness of counterpoint show
off, the pianist feels an intimate need to intensify the thematic aspects also by changes of speed
and variety of touch that free player's imagination ...
CD & DVD - A Bach with an extraordinary maturity of thought
Cadenze, periodical of musical information - nr.7, June-August 2006 Cesare Venturi
... the ex genius-child, keen on music and football, was able to grow as far as age and skill and
expressive maturity are concerned, and he renews himself concert after concert, record after record.
Until he came to Bach, very concentrated, inspired, respectful of tradition and - at the same time
- devoid of conditionings, resolute and determined to "perform" without "forcing"
of the harmonic and timbre ...
BILLBOARD - Two days of Bach for Andrea Bacchetti
il Giornale - June 1st, 2006 FeR
... "Decca" launches on record market other two young emerging performers of keyboard,
engaged in two complete Bach's works, the "Six English Suites". We are talking about
Ramin Bahrami and Andrea Bacchetti, the former was born in Teheran and the latter in Genoa ...
These two main Bach's works find high-level performances for right balance of sound, admirable
touch, sense of style and careful interpretative choice of the grace-notes, making these recordings
become important documents we can refer to ...
Reviews - Decca for young pianists: Bach with Bahrami and Bacchetti
Musica & Scuola - 20th Year nr.11, June 15th, 2006 Dino Gatti
... with this record Andrea Bacchetti wants to introduce himself as a complete performer starting
from Bach's literature "for keyboard", a risky fund for anyone, after Glenn Gould put his
hand on it, And he does it with an instrument that is a pride of the big Italian building tradition:
a Fazioli (F278) piano... what cancels every doubt is the fact that Bacchetti warms the clearness
of articulations with "humanitas": without such a "humanitas" all great Bach's
music would be a cold exercise of composition ...
MUSIC Reviews - Bach, English Suites (BWV 806-811)
Artistic score: 9 Technic score: 9
www.suono.it - June 15th, 2006 Pietro Acquafredda
... A few weeks ago, within a concert at Milan Conservatory, the audience could watch an extremely
interesting pianistic performance - mature, intelligent, even innovating - of Goldberg Variations,
the most difficult and threatening of all Bach's masterpieces that a pianist concert performer can
face. ... Bacchetti offers an eloquent sample of his "Bach style", also in a wonderful,
exemplary double CD published by Decca. ... Bacchetti in his Suites is a master in his own right.
There aren't "fake harpsichord-like" affectations, he doesn't tear along the keyboard:
the perfect technique and the clear and limpid touch are at the service of a sober style, lacking
of exhibitionism, turned towards that kind of intellectual emotion so congenial to Bach ...
SHOWS - Bacchetti, a CD dedicated to Bach
Libertà - July 2nd, 2006 Alfredo Tenni
... After Glenn Gould, to go back to play Bach on piano you must have courage, or something new to
say. Bacchetti faces English Suites with an aim: giving back to Bach's page the ancient quiver of
dance from which they were born ... a dance without age, never avid for spaces or acrobatics, but
kept by Bacchetti on his fingertip: with grace and competence ...
Gentlemen - Back in Bach: Andrea Bacchetti plays the great Master
MF Milano Finanza - October 20th, 2006 Andrea Milanesi
... Bacchetti combines inspiration with rigour, imagination with analytical accuracy, spirit of
finesses with spirit of geometry ... Not because of immodesty but because his eyes concentrates
only on the score in front of him, Bacchetti doesn't look at previous models and succeeds in
finding an original and convincing key to read a "staccato" which makes clear the
articulation of the different sound levels of the counterpoint, but that doesn't renounce to
ties dictated more by the logic of the talking than by an expressive intent; grace-notes often
performed in different ways depending on the Suites and on single movements; a very balanced use,
that is to say light hesitations, or accelerations very far from romantic technique; a coherent
and personal choice of speed, which has as only landmark the unitary rendering of the whole suite
without submitting to the taste for acrobatics that are an end in itself; the lightness of touch ...
a very successful performance, a recording of quality, airy and brilliant ...
Classic Music - Reviews
Artistic Quality 8 - Technical Quality 9
Audio Review - nr.11 November 2006 Stefano Catucci
... A musical execution very attentive and meticulous ... with rigorous painstaking effort the
pianist finds and enhances the traits of each movement in every Suite ... and also from the point
of view of variety of timbre the transparency of Bacchetti's touch, next to the flexibility of
his keyboard "manualism", hits the target. The risk of technical and phonic uniformity
during the listening of Bach's "integrale", that sometime was found with Leonhardt
(Sony) and Rousset (Note), in our opinion here didn't happen ...
Music Reviews
Decca 4763127 (2 CDs) - GOOD / EXCELLENT
Fedeltà del Suono - 16th Year, nr.133 December 2006 Luigi Bellingardi
... The young Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti has garnered serious attention and high praise
in the European press for his prowess with new music (he recorded Berio's complete piano works)
as well as for his Bach interpretations. His warm sonority, singing line, and expressive
intensity proudly hold their own in such world-class company.
His eloquent melodic shaping of the Bourées (Suite One and Two) and the Fourth Suite's Menuets illustrate my point, and so does this pianist's uncommonly introspective approach to the Sixt Suite Prelude's interpretation. Repeats offer ample opportunity for Bacchetti to make subtle adjustments in voicing or to add imaginative yet never overwrought ornaments. Decca's sonics convey formidable impact and bottom-up detail, giving the impression that the Fazioli grand's bass notes are bowed rather than hammered. Recommend ...
His eloquent melodic shaping of the Bourées (Suite One and Two) and the Fourth Suite's Menuets illustrate my point, and so does this pianist's uncommonly introspective approach to the Sixt Suite Prelude's interpretation. Repeats offer ample opportunity for Bacchetti to make subtle adjustments in voicing or to add imaginative yet never overwrought ornaments. Decca's sonics convey formidable impact and bottom-up detail, giving the impression that the Fazioli grand's bass notes are bowed rather than hammered. Recommend ...
Search Review - Search sponsored by Cedille Records
Artistic Quality: 9 Sound Quality: 9
www.classictoday.com - December 2006 Jed Distler
I originally purchased this recording after reading a positive review in Classics Today by
Jed Distler, one of the most knowledgeable piano critics writing today. I so enjoyed Andrea
Bachetti's playing that when my home burned to the ground last fall, one of the first cd's I
replaced was this one. That's saying a lot in that at least 1,500 discs were destroyed.
(I also had Angela Hewitt's very good recording of the English Suites in my collection, but
I decided to stick with Bacchetti's).
In short, this is a superb traversal of the English Suites that is also beautifully recorded.
Very warmly recommended.
In short, this is a superb traversal of the English Suites that is also beautifully recorded.
Very warmly recommended.
Customer reviews - outstanding playing & recording
www.amazon.com - April 22nd, 2008 jsa
... On remarquera particulièrment le Bach d'Andrea Bacchetti, qui a enregistré les Suites Anglaises sur
un Fazioli aux coleurs éclatantes ...
IN BREF - DECCA va piano ("go slowly")
Diapason - Mai 2008 Etienne Moreau
... With grace and elan, Bacchetti delivers the best of English Suites to come my way since Andras Shiff
back in the hate 1980s ... Bacchetti takes a fully pianistic approach to Bach. He may scale down the dynamic
contrasts to a more intimate range, but every phrase is thoughtfully shaped and his articulation of counterpoint
is exemplary. He ornaments the musicfreely, especially in repeated sections, but always tastefully and in
appropriate style. ... In summary, I would not hesitate to categorize these performances as among the very
best currently available ...
<
CD REVIEWS
American Record Guide - January / February 2009 Harrington
<
...if you like Glenn Gould's English Suites you will appreciate Bacchetti's recording as one of similar stature,
but without the singing, and any of the clipped mannerisms which can irritate in the long term.
If you are more in the Angela Hewitt or the Murray Perahia camp, you may or indeed may not appreciate Bacchetti as a drier, more hard-hitting alternative. You may find him too much of an enthusiastic advocate of certain types of playing in Bach - the "modern piano players" view, which fearlessly brings out the most from the modern grand but without relinquishing a sensitivity to proportion and refinement. Do not however lose sight of the breadth of contrast this offers between the extrovert and dramatic, and the delicate and introvert ... This version is different enough from the rest to have earned a rightful place in any Bach collector's piano section ....
If you are more in the Angela Hewitt or the Murray Perahia camp, you may or indeed may not appreciate Bacchetti as a drier, more hard-hitting alternative. You may find him too much of an enthusiastic advocate of certain types of playing in Bach - the "modern piano players" view, which fearlessly brings out the most from the modern grand but without relinquishing a sensitivity to proportion and refinement. Do not however lose sight of the breadth of contrast this offers between the extrovert and dramatic, and the delicate and introvert ... This version is different enough from the rest to have earned a rightful place in any Bach collector's piano section ....
Review
www.musicweb-international.com - August 20th, 2009 - Dominy Clements
... el sonido contundente y pleno, pero también íntimo y lírico si se requiere, la delicadez casi impresionista
... Pianístico en todo movimento, Bacchetti no intenta evocar el clavecín en su interpretacion y enriquece sus
lecturas con un actractivo juego dinámico y con una gran riqueza de matices ... En resumen, una significativa
aportación al pianismo bachiano es este intérprete extraordinario que nos convence de que de que todavia se puede
(y se debe) tocar música de Bach en un piano si se hace así de bien, con la ideas claras, con sensibilidad y así
de responsablemente ...
Reseñas, Recomendado
CD Compact - septiembre 2009 - Josep Pascual
... una integral de las Suites inglesas en la que apreciamos de nuevo la tendencia de Bacchetti a refugiarse en la intimidad
de los tempi lentos o muy moderados, así como a teñir el conjunto de la interpretación de una marcadísima introversión ...
Bacchetti es un espléndido pianista y un gran músico, pero ses virtudes se verían reforzadas si ejerciera un menor control
sobre el producto final y dejara que todo volase con una libertad algo major. Aun así, su Bach vuelve a ser enormemente
balsámico y disfrutable.
Discos Critica - de la A a la Z
Ritmo - Enero 2010 - L.G.
... I had occasion to review a DVD of Bacchetti in a live performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which I found to be
"highly convincing and engaging." Bacchetti has made a special project of Bach, and his playing of the English
suites on his Fazioli Model F278 reflects the deep thought he has given to these works. His approach leans towards the
introverted and sensitive, but his playing is not affected, and there is plenty of forward momentum and kinetic energy
where needed ... The one criticism I thought I had related to Bacchetti's embellishments, which seemed a bit fussy and
overdone. But I realized that most of the embellishments are Bach's ... ...
Archive
Fanfare Magazine - January 2010 - Jerry Dubins
... Andrea Bacchetti follows his excellent Bach miscellany on Dynamic with the English Suites. Bach's most diverse
multimovement works, they respond well to his light touch and mercurial wit ... the pianist is hardly less persuasive in
the Sarabandes, oases of limpid and poetic calm at the centre of each suite, while his handling of the livelier movements
- not least the evergreen Bourées in the A minor and G minor suites - point up the dance inflection delectably. His Fazioli
recorded with admirable clarity, Bacchetti is undoubtedly a front-runner in these much-recorded works ...
CD round-up
International Piano - January/February 2010 - Richard Whitehouse
Andrea Bacchetti feels equally at home in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, as in the works of his friend Luciano
Berio, in the romantic concert pieces of Mendelssohn or in the classical compositions of Galuppi and Cherubini. ... The
CD contains the complete English Suites. It's a solid portion of music to listen to - over 140 minutes; Interestingly,
however, there is not a single weak moment here, no fluctuating form, no moment of distraction. From the beginning to
the end, the artist focuses the attention of the listener to consistently lead him through the meanders of the subsequent
parts of the cycles. ... Even if listeners do not allow interpretations other than their favorites in this repertoire,
for example Murray Perrahya, Glenn Gould or Sviatoslav Richter, I am of the opinion that they will not be disappointed
in the version of an Italian artist whose sensitivity, excellent piano skills, respect to work, diligence in reading the
musical notation guarantee a very valuable creation, maintained at a high level. ... Such are the creations of Andrea
Bacchetti: concentrated, modest, simple, and at the same time beautiful and masterly, vividly speaking to the recipient.
I listened to them with real pleasure.
Plytoteka (Record Library)
Muzyka - n. 120, July 2010 - Pawel Chmielowski
TOPANDREA BACCHETTI Official Web Site