Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826 - Partita No. 2 begins with a three
part Sinfonia which is essentially a French Overture with a difference.
Generally, a French Overture moves directly from the dotted rhythm
introduction to a fugue-type movement.  In this case, the Grave adagio and
Allegro fugue are separated by a highly lyrical and expressive Andante.  I
consider this Andante the heart of the Sinfonia.  Any excellent performance
has to dig into this heart to find and convey the rapture inherent in the
music.  Pinnock and Hewitt are the two versions that do not succeed well
in the Andante; they are rather superficial and of little impact.

The two Horszowski peformances share much in common.  Both are outstanding
in the Grave Adagio and the Andante, providing fully expressive and
poignant readings, and both are underpowered and convey little excitement
in the two part fugue.  I prefer the piano sound in the Arbiter recording,
but there is a fairly consistent "buzz" out of the right channel.  The
Arbiter is also slower than the BBC, although I don't find that aspect
significant.  Given a few twists and turns, both performances are highly
rewarding and better than Pinnock and Hewitt.  But there is much room for
improvement in the fugue.

Goode and Schepkin are certainly not underpowered in the fugue, but they
are not very expressive either.  As with the Horszowski performances, Goode
and Schepkin are excellent in the Grave Adagio and the Andante.

That leaves three masterful interpretations from start to finish.
Tureck uses a slow tempo to envelop the listener in the poetry and subtle
urgency of the Andante; her pacing is outstanding.  Her fugue has power
and expressiveness in abundance.  Leonhardt is on the quick side without
any loss of tenderness, and his Fugue is a thrilling experience.  Argerich
is quite fast with superb accenting; she gets to the core of each of the
three parts of the Sinfonia.  Listening to any of these three versions is
really making my day.

The Allemande harkens back to the Sinfonia's Andante in mood, depth,
and lyricism.  Schepkin is fast and tends to glide on the music's surface.
Hewitt does likewise.  Horszowski/BBC doesn't compare well with its Arbiter
counterpart; pacing is inferior, and there is insufficient angularity.

Goode and Pinnock give very fine performances, just lacking that last
ounce of depth.  Argerich, Tureck, Leonhardt, and Horszowski/Arbiter are
excellent.  Argerich provides a lesson to Schepkin in how to be quick paced
and still deliver a beautifully nuanced reading.  Tureck is quite slow and
very noble and tender.  Leonhardt displays the greatest urgency, and
Horszowski is stately and elegant.  Each of the four makes the music
special.

The Courante is versatile music which sounds wonderful fast or moderately
paced.  Horszowski/Arbiter is certainly fast but not pleasant listening; a
host of technical errors by Horszowski becomes hard to absorb on repeated
listenings.  Goode is also fast and not pleasant as it is a jarring
performance which I find a little unmusical.  The other fast performances,
Pinnock, Argerich, and Horszowski/BBC are very rewarding; they are exciting
and highly expressive.

The remaining versions are of moderate tempo.  Hewitt, Leonhardt, and
Schepkin are fine interpretions.  Hewitt is celebratory (and a little
pompous), Leonhardt is incisive, and Schepkin provides a very smooth and
dream-like reading.  Tureck is best as she uses much staccato to great
effect, highlights the counterpoint much better than any other version,
and envelops it all in a veil of mystery.

The Sarabande is a gorgeous piece of music with a strong degree of
urgency and emotional longing.  Getting the beauty out of the music is
fairly simple; delivering the urgency and longing is another matter.
Schepkin performs the initial theme superbly with great urgency and
longing.  However, in his repeat of the first theme, he apparently thinks
that a series of trills does the trick; I don't agree.  I find those
trills annoying and no substitute for sincere feelings.  Something else
is starting to irritate me about Schepkin's performances; he can be very
stingy with repeats, even those where there *are* different notes and
melodies to play.  In the Sarabande, Schepkin omits, imho, a section of
the piece which contains one of the finest passages of the Sarabande.  So,
although in many respects this is an excellent performance, the trills and
omissions make it problematic.

Hewitt also has problems with a relatively quick and "light" performance
which doesn't dig deeply into the urgency and longing of the music.  I'm
finding that Hewitt often has a different conception than I have of Bach
movements; I'm sure that's the case with the Sarabande.

Horszowski/Arbiter is an excellent performance and better than his BBC
performance; the sound is richer and sharper, and the interpretation is
deeper and better paced.  Joining the Airbiter are Argerich and Pinnock.
Argerich is beautifully nuanced and Pinnock, this time, gets to the heart
of the music.

Tureck, Goode, and Leonhardt provide special performances.  Tureck is
the slowest version and she's mesmerizing; in addition to a strong sense
of longing and urgency, Tureck projects to me a deep feeling of regret as
well.  Goode has the best pacing and projection of the intensity of longing
in the music.  I think Leonhardt, more than the other artists, is inside
this Sarabande and continuously explores its center.

Next is a frisky and exciting Rondeaux of short duration.  Both Horszowski
performances can best be described as "unpolished" and represent the
hazards of a live concert performance.  There are too many choppy passages
and a lack of continuity.  Tureck is not unpolished, but she is much too
soft-focused in passages requiring strong projection; the result is a loss
of energy and excitement.  Also, when playfulness is required, Tureck tends
to have too strong a touch.

The remaining versions are highly rewarding, well displaying the
playfulness and excitement of the Rondeaux.  Pinnock is my favorite; he has
a very light touch which highlights the music's playfulness, yet he lacks
nothing in power and excitement when called for.  The contrast with Tureck
is illuminating in favor of Pinnock's reading.

Partita No. 2 concludes with a Capriccio.  The Pinnock liner notes refer
the piece as "wild".  I would just want to add that it's a controlled
wildness which is so appealing about the music.  It takes me to the edge
of the plank, but I never fall off.  Pinnock lives up to the liner note
description splendidly; his performance is indeed wild and well controlled
throughout.  The same applies to Leonhardt who uses a slower tempo.

The other versions are fine except for Schepkin, Horszowski/BBC, and
Tureck.  Schepkin delivers a herky-jerky reading of little lyricism,
Horszowski makes many technical errors, and Tureck sounds too soft
centered.

Leonhardt, as with the first Partita, gives the best intrpretation.
He is, at a minimum, excellent in every movement.  Leonhardt only offers
strengths; I haven't noticed a single weakness.  Tureck, after four
movements, was breezing along with the best reading, but the Rondeax and
Capriccio were more than she could handle.  Fast movements requiring
consistent strength are not Tureck's best areas.  But, those first four
movements are outstanding.  Argerich also gives an excellent account which
is more consistently rewarding than Tureck; the sound quality is excellent
and better than for her recent recording of Chopin's Piano Concertos.

Horszowski/Arbiter and Goode provide very fine performances with many
rewarding insights.  Hewitt, Schepkin, and Horszowski/BBC, although
offering good performances, do not hold up well to the other versions.
Hewitt often is not deep into the music, Schepkin displays an assortment
of eccentricities, and Horszowski has much trouble with speed.

Pinnock is almost as good as Argerich and Tureck.  Excepting for a weak
Sinfonia, Pinnnock's performances are excellent.  I indicated, after
listening to his Partita No. 1, that Pinnock needed to dig deeper into
the music.  I feel that he is largely successful in the second Partita.
His Rondeax and Capriccio are particularly impressive.

It's been very satisfying having Argerich, Goode, and the two Horszowski
versions to review.  But for Partita No.  3, I'll be back down to the
five full sets.  Leonhardt's is the one set that is shaping up to be an
outstanding front-runner.  He goes from strength to strength, always
providing probing interpretations.

Don Satz
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