Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major / Papillons Op. 2 / Prelude / Mazurka
The old master shows the rest of us how it ought to be done. In his nineties, Mieczyslaw Horszowski played Bach with purpose and clarity, never letting his beautiful tone blur the contours of the music. His Schumann is exquisitely characterized, with every little miniature having a life of its own, and again the luminous tone contributes much to the overall effect. Three pieces of Chopin are real object lessons in playing that master idiomatically, the rhythms are flexible but still clear and the music seems almost to be sung instead of played. The disc may not last very long, but playing like this is priceless.--Leslie Gerber