Some time back, I did a little review of Richard Goode's Nonesuch disc
of three Bach partitas.  I was not highly complimentary at that time.
In the intervening period, I have read quite a few reviews of this disc,
all of them highly favorable.  So, last night I decided to re-examine the
qualities of the disc.  If my conclusions had been the same as before, I
wouldn't bother posting about it.  But, I do feel I have a better grasp now
on this recording.

I should start by stating that partita no. 4 is easily my favorite of the
six.  As it happens, that's the first partita on the Goode recording.  When
I listened to Goode's interpretation of this partita last night, I was
getting irritated by his performance.  Routinely, Goode refused to sustain
any drive or power when it's called for.  His playing was "pretty" and
restrained.

However, the last section of the partita, the gigue, was entirely
different.  Here, there's a wealth of sustained drive and ample power, one
of the best partita no.4 gigues I've ever heard.  That told me that Goode
certainly had the "chops" to play the previous sections more to my liking,
but that he purposely did not.

With the other two partitas, Goode is right on the mark as he was with the
previous gigue.  It's as if an entirely different pianist performed all but
the last part of partita no. 4.  Why Goode made these decisions I have no
idea.  But, I consider it a gross miscalculation on his part.

Overall, I must upgrade my opinion of Goode's recording.  However, I still
can't give it a strong recommendation based on his "pretty" approach to
most of partita no. 4.  The recorded sound is very good but a little
"glassy" on the higher notes.

The best partita no. 4 I ever heard on piano is by Kahane on Nonesuch; I
think it's coupled with either the two or three-part inventions.  Kahane
brings out all the poetry in the work while power-driving through the
passages which call for such an approach.  It's one electrifying
performance.  If you just have one version of the 4th partita, and it's
Goode, you are missing the boat.

Don Satz
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