Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV565 [8:28]
Pastorale (Pastorella) in F major, BWV590 [12:48]
Partite diverse sopra il Corale ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott’, BWV767
[15:06]
Fantasia (Pièce d’orgue) in G major, BWV572 [8:40]
Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV535 [7:08]
Canonic Variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her’,
BWV769 [11:26]
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV548 [14:25]
Masaaki Suzuki (organ)
rec. 2014, Martinikerk, Groningen, The Netherlands
Reviewed as a 24/96 download from eClassical.com
Pdf booklet included
BIS BIS-2111 SACD [79:26]
If, like me, you feel a little Bach goes a long way you
may be tempted to ignore this new release. But wait, the music is played by
none other than Masaaki Suzuki, whose multi-award-winning traversal of Bach
cantatas for BIS is now complete. I know he's recorded this repertoire before
- BIS
1037, for instance - but I wasn’t aware that Suzuki has been playing
the organ since the age of 12, or that he received diplomas in both the organ
and harpsichord from Amsterdam’s prestigious Sweelinck Academy. Given
this Dutch connection it seems appropriate that he has chosen to play the
Martinikerk’s Schnitger/Hinz organ, comprehensively restored by Jürgen
Ahrend between 1976 and 1984.
Seconds into the ubiquitous Toccata and Fugue in D minor and it’s
clear this isn’t a run-of-the-mill recital. For a start the musical
strands emerge with a clarity and degree of separation that one seldom hears
in this blowsy blockbuster. In that respect Suzuki reminds me of Simon Preston,
who also majors in such detail. There’s an echo, but as in Iveta Apkalna’s
recent Bach/Glass
collection it’s put to dramatic/precipitous use between flourishes.
Also, I can’t recall an organ recording in which the building’s
sonic ‘signature’ has been so clearly caught. The organ has a
plain, unvarnished character, its woody ‘honk’ mated to a celestial
treble in the F-major movement of the Pastorella.
Suzuki invests each of these pieces with a distinct and arresting sound-world;
the almost silvered sonorities of Partita VIII from the Partite
diverse sopra il Corale ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott’ are a case
in point. Really, this is a most versatile and cleanly voiced instrument,
and it’s well behaved to boot. It can sound as imperious as any –
just sample Partita IX – and the filigreed Fantasia in
G major is crisply done. There’s plenty of bass heft too, but Suzuki
and his engineer – Take5’s Hans Kipfer – resist the urge
to turn this recording into something meretricious. Instead, what one get
is a remarkably immersive and proportionate sound that’s also supremely
well balanced.
The Schnitger/Hinz pedals are simply magnificent; rather than stand out in
an obvious way they segue nicely with the rest of this organ. Like the instrument
everything else in this recording is a good fit; even that brilliant Fantasia,
sometimes a tad overpowering, is judiciously – but compellingly –
executed. Similarly, the Ariel-like flit and flutter of the Prelude and
Fugue in C minor is anchored by a solid, wonderfully mobile bass; this
makes for an unusually coherent and engaging performance. Blend, not bland,
is the key word here.
Dynamic, imaginative and well planned this generous programme has something
for everyone. In other hands the Canonic Variations can seem a little
dry, but in Suzuki’s they turn into cascades of pure loveliness. He
has a firm and seemingly intuitive way with this flood of notes; undammed
by awkwardness or artifice they are allowed to flow most naturally. It helps
that Kipfer has provided him with a recording of such impressive reach and
fidelity. These skills really come to the fore in the denser passages of the
Prelude and Fugue in E minor; indeed, there’s an astonishing
depth and complexity of contour to the sound here, the likes of which I’ve
not encountered in ages.
If you like Bach – and even if you don’t – this is a mandatory
purchase. Musical and technical values are well up to the standards of the
house and Albert Clement’s lucid liner-notes are a bonus. Really, in
these straitened times it’s heartening to find a label that still holds
to its core values; long may that continue.
This is the kind of musicianship that changes minds; standard-setting sound,
too.
Dan Morgan
twitter.com/mahlerei
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