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Reviewer: Bryce Morrison
Writing in his accompanying essay, Russian-American pianist Sergey Schepkin leaves you in no doubt why Bach is at the heart of his repertoire. And his performances of the six French Suites, two differing takes on the A minor Fantasia and
Fugue and the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue are of an exemplary precision and lucidity. Using the Bärenreiter edition of the Suites, his playing is at first relatively austere, allowing for rich embellishments on the repeats. Again, he argues sensibly that to place graceful, intimate if ‘sometimes humorous Minuets’ after fastpaced and exhilarating Gigues, as in some editions, savours of anti-climax.
Such telling scholarship is complemented by playing devoid of egocentricity, elaborate gesturing and agogic accentuation, in which everything is made seamless and natural, though with no loss of character. Bach is always allowed his own voice, a far cry from the justly celebrated Bach of Gould or Tureck, where touches of genius are qualified by eccentricity (Gould) and pedantry (Tureck).
Schepkin is gentle and heart-warming in the Second Suite’s Allemande, lively but unforced in the Courante. There is a special sense of joyousness in the Fifth Suite, where in the final Gigue his sparkle declares his enviable technique, though one never on display for its own sake. Try the Courante from the Sixth Suite for an example of Schepkin’s effortless-sounding command or the Gavotte for an irresistibly perky rhythmic spring.
Then, he is suitably audacious and improvisatory in the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, music beloved by virtuoso pianists not normally attuned to Bach. And if he cannot erase memories of the glories offered by Edwin Fischer and most of all Kempff (his live BBC Legends performance – 2/01), his performance is never less than arresting. Steinway & Sons has done Schepkin proud, crowning his special accomplishment with excellent sound. |
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