Stepping Stones to Bach

“As she did with the Brandenburgs, Bindman set out to create more “balanced” transcriptions by dividing the responsibilities, and the technical difficulties, more equitably than Reger did.… If I were half of a piano duo, I would want to play these transcriptions with my partner. (And I would be able to, as the scores can be purchased on Bindman’s website.) They retain many of the qualities of Bach’s originals—the grandeur, the balanced grace, the songfulness, and the zest… I appreciate the textural and tonal variety of Bindman’s transcriptions, mirroring Bach’s originals without forgetting that idiomatic writing for two pianos and idiomatic orchestral writing are different. That variety is realized in these performances. The playing is stylish and historically-informed, even though a Bösendorfer piano was unknown during Bach’s time.… There is nothing here that I did not enjoy. …transcriptions such as these help me to see the skeleton that supports the rest of the orchestral body. More than that, however, they are fun, and they celebrate the joy of amateur music-making, even though the performers on this CD are professionals of the first rank.”

Raymond Tuttle
Fanfare

“These versions should not be missed, because they are very original and very, very special. Highly recommended.”

Michel Dutrieue
Stretto Magazine

what a marvelous Bach performer… The prelude from Partita 1 is deliciously slow and expressive, with unexpected marking of inner voices, beautiful ornamentation, shimmering tone.… There’s not a bad movement in the bunch, so I will list a few of my favorites: first of all, I love the thoughtful and poised allemandes; I used to think of them the same way until my harpsichord teacher Arthur Haas convinced me that the one from Partita 6 should be played like a rather quick Italian Allemanda. Maybe so, but Bindman’s slower account is pulling me back in the other direction.… The gigue from Partita 5 is likewise graceful, the interaction among the three voices beautifully controlled and radiant.”

—Rob Haskins
American Record Guide

Bindman’s very special ability to breathe life into the musical events and to give every theme, every figure a shape, even a human profile, also characterizes the fast dances, which never slip into mere motor skills, but are lived through emotionally, are intelligently thought out and logically completed. In this way she lends a fascinating stringency and inner tension even to the slow-motion sarabands, directed inward, so that Bach’s deep spirituality can also be felt here, while in the fast gigue and courante movements she conveys Bach’s life energy with impressive, pedal-free precision and instantaneous drive conjures: There are timeless signals from the galaxy, and everything grooves and swings as if they were messages from today: a fascinating album.”

Attila Csampai
Rondo

“If I had to describe these performances in a single word, that word would be “affectionate.” Bindman clearly loves this music, and she plays it caressingly, as a lover would. … I’d like to point to the aforementioned Sarabande from Partita No. 3, which, under Bindman’s fingers, becomes an absolutely hypnotizing and eloquently grave meditation on the expressive power of 16th-note triplets. This is why we listen to new recordings of music we love—to shine a light on it of which we had not previously been aware.… This release excited my admiration from the moment I started playing it, and that attention has not waned over the course of more than a week. This could be on my Want List at the end of the year.”

Raymond Tuttle
Fanfare

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