Bach’s keyboard partitas and suites, both the English and the French, have long been staples of Piotr Anderszewski’s programmes. But although the sixth of the English Suites, in D minor, was included on a recital disc that he recorded in the mid 1990s, Anderszewski has typically taken his time over recording any more of the set. This collectionof the odd-numbered ones is well worth the wait, and perfectly conveys the strengths and special qualities of his Bach playing. There’s both carefully focused energy and reflective poise here; wonderful transparency in the contrapuntal movements like the opening preludes and closing gigues; a crystalline purity of line in the sarabandes; rhythmic exuberance in the dance movements; and always the real sense of intellectual curiosity about the way in which Bach rethinks and reinvents the musical forms in each work. Anderszewski manages to be punctiliously stylish without ever becoming precious, refreshingly matter-of-fact without being routine.
