Peter Schenkman, a Canadian pianophile gone since many years now, once wrote to me in vivid prose about his first encounter with Vladimir Horowitz in Toronto's Massey Hall in May 1976. I still remember his words about the opening number, Schumann's Arabeske, saying: "He never started it... It had always been there, he backed in to it!". Although a very different type of pianist, I had a similar experience with Sokolov and Bach's 3rd French Suite this season. Likewise the opening work on the program, after the merry pre-concert chatter the lights dimmed, Sokolov entered in his customary ceremonial fashion, and the instant he touched the keys - the very instant - 2006 disappeared, and the rarefied, intimate atmosphere of Bach's suite had taken dominion. And played such as I had never even imagined the work before. The simple suite, which school children are often given as their first introduction to Bach's more artistically minded keyboard music, appeared like a whole little universe of its own - weaved from the highest form of logic, art, and culture which now permeated the auditorium.
Unlike what you often hear I don't think Sokolov is a pianist you need to hear in person to fully appreciate (which Schenkman kept reiterating Horowitz was throughout the time I corresponded with him). With Sokolov it's more about the work which goes on outside the piano with a piece of music, and then the concert is merely where that work is being presented. Indeed his ideas are often so different that I'm normally a bit startled at the first hearing, and it's only when I've had time to get used to what he does that the full merit of his reading stands revealed. But in this particular suite there was no need to adjust, and the magical concert experience Sokolov offered that day, 16 years ago this autumn, has proved difficult to relive through recordings.
Bach: French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814
00:00 - I. Allemande
03:10 - II. Courante
05:59 - III. Sarabande
10:50 - IV. Menuet
14:33 - V. Anglais
16:00 - VI. Gigue
Grigory Sokolov, piano
Source: Audience Recording
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6 авг 2024
