Tristano performs Bach’s English Suites
My favorite album by Tristano is his earlier “On Early Music,” which in addition to Frescobaldi and Gibbons (among others) are his own pieces, inspired by this Renaissance-early baroque style. It was an arresting album to me because of his touch, not to mention the opening piece by the performer, which just had this groove to it. Fresh, for sure.
Franceso Tristano-Schlimé recorded already Bach’s partitas, for which I rated it at 3.5 stars. I mentioned the sound of his instrument and the consistent quality of his playing. It’s the first reaction I have again when needle-dropping this album. The Yamaha CFX he’s playing has got an outstanding tone. The dryness of the acoustic seems ideal for us getting a really good exposure to the piano’s sound and supports his touch on the keyboard.
The English suites BWV 806-811, which we know are not really English in style, but French, are so-named because of an inscription left on a copy for Bach’s son. You can read more about them here, although I am certain many readers are already familiar with these enough as some of Bach’s earliest trials at writing keyboard suites.
Among the things the aforementioned Wikipedia article states is the “strict” style of Bach’s preludes. There’s a regular pulse we can feel with Tristano’s performance of the opening Prelude from the first suite in A major. He neatly tucks in the ornaments within the folds of his regular rhythm. I found those that Bach tucks into the left hand’s part were especially satisfying, in part due the Yamaha piano’s voicing.
Ornamentation invades the music of the Allemande in the same suite, confidently navigated with a brisk tempo by Tristano. By now we can appreciate his style, if not the one of an early Bach: the technique upon piano without obvious use of the pedal for me has a palpable pull on me, suiting the music. The fifth movement of the A major suite, for me, is somewhat complex with all the ornaments, but listen to how he adapts the articulation to maintain both clarity and momentum! There’s a deliberate dynamic emphasis on many of the ornaments which draws our ears to them, emphasizing the “baroque” style that draws parallels to the period’s art with the ornamental component to the keyboard technique Bach is enforcing, if not imitating.
Switching to Angela Hewitt’s recording—she evokes a different aesthetic completely. Her Sarabande is carefully performed, leaning into a legato touch to expose the melodic component of Bach’s writing. Her use of shape to pull phrase from the Bourée is intelligent and musical.
Tristano’s adopted speed of the Sarabande I like, although there’s far more emotional weight in the solution by Hewitt. While Tristano does vary his articulation bringing out some variation in dynamics in the two bourées, he’s less interested in applying what I might call twentieth-century style phrasing to the performance. The phrasing Hewitt conjures is musical and purposeful, but the more historically-considered thoughts about phrasing are what I think Tristano is after in his reading. It’s well and alive in his performance of the Gigue, which I enjoyed immensely, focusing upon the artifice of the ornaments, as if they are Lego bricks he’s helping us see, their angular shapes, the similarity of one brick to the next.
Of all the suites I like the best, it would have to be the second, in A minor. Tristano tears into the opening prelude at break-neck speed. There’s a Gouldian echo to his playing style here, which is partially revealed through his speed. But I’d say here his reading is more musical, and the sound of his piano and the improvements in recording technology certainly present to me something better than what Gould left us.
But perhaps the pianist that made this opening prelude so memorable was Martha Argerich in her 1980 recording for DG. Her articulation, bringing clear attack to each note, although not as mechnically-consistent as Tristano does, along with her dynamics make for a musical result. Tristano, by comparison, is faster, if not a bit more brazen in his performance. His variation in dynamics with the left hand, I found nice. I’d say after multiple listens that Tristano is my preference.
The Allemande from the second suite isn’t so obsessed, we might say, with the ornaments. And those that Bach left us are cleanly played by Tristano still. Tristano’s right hand control throughout the Courante is to be called out, the way he so neatly captures everything in time in the repeat? I’m impressed with his technique.
Many still find his treatment of the Sarabande lacking—if not for the fast tempo, for not leaning into the trap of rendering is romantically, with the support of the pedal. I like this speed and the freshness of hearing it without lingering around Bach’s resolution of tension in the harmony. The steady nature nearly presents dancers in front of me, even if piece unfolds faster than is typical.
The goosebumps formed for me in his performance of that first Bourée. The right hand control! The accents! We get to sit back to wonder where Bach got the inspiration for this one? Outstanding.
The gigue is no less exhilarating. He provides enough dynamic inflection to feel the music’s pulse and the smaller phrase groups well. There’s nearly a bit of badassery in the way he starts this dance and continues the starting intensity throughout. Don’t tell me he’s not showing off a bit here, but the quality of Bach’s music handles these things without worry. Yes, there’s hardly a place for us to breathe. But I like some performances that put the music to a stress test.
One thing I might say to Tristano and his producer(s): it’s okay to linger on the last chord and insert some space before pushing us off into the next suite!
The final suite, in D minor, is treated a bit differently: the opening prelude is played more legato than the movements from the first two suites; the change in touch is welcome by me, nearly providing a different side of the piano, one that can imitate the sustain of an organ. What stays consistent is Tristano’s adherence to the tempo; the faster section that follows the opening is spritely, the speed and connectedness between the notes is juicy. His dynamics only bring shade to the music, adding sweetness to the juice. That Yamaha provides nice bass support, with an even hand applied, while the right hand, as ever, provides consistent pressure with seemingly no worry from his speed.
He too stress-tests the Courante, I think, with his chosen speed. But his dynamic emphasis and articulation to provide the accents keeps the piece interesting despite the harmonies flying past quickly.
The first Gavotte comes off clever-sounding, relaxed, despite the speed. Again, consistent finger pressure gives us a very even consistency between the notes, the accents are there, without becoming grossly overdone.
The final Gigue is another masterpiece among the set. Bach’s long-held trills stand out between the voices as a strong rhythmic motif. Tristano doesn’t overdo them. His independence between the voices in this piece compliment the music. He does allow himself to grow the dynamics up and to the end. But somehow the suite feels unfinished? Again, I would have held on a bit longer before the release of my hands from the keyboard.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve written in other reviews, even when I may not fully like an approach by an artist, I have to call out with appreciation when they consistently apply it across their performances. This has here to do with technique, but also the artist’s desire to emphasize a particular quality to his playing that for me comes across differently in his recordings, depending upon the setting, or the instrument, etc., but it’s his technique always, I feel, that nurtures a particular piano sound.
Another approach to playing this music in particular is to vary your technique, to suit the character of each dance. Instead, Tristano, I’d wager, is applying his technique pretty consistently (save for the example where legato is allowed to live) across all the dances, the music itself be damned. I’d say the approach I’m suggesting here is something familiar to a pianist like Angela Hewitt. So, if you like Hewitt’s Bach, you may well find this recording failing you.
More than once I kept thinking that Tristano in some ways is referencing Glenn Gould in his playing. But Gould, while known for his technique and ability to play fast, wasn’t a car driver that always pushed the pedal to the floor. He could take his time, sometimes frustratingly so. Tristano, by comparison, is for me the epitome of a young man who likes a sports car and to drive it consistently hard.
For instance, Gould’s reading of the sixth suite is 26 minutes while Tristano finises up in less than twenty! But beyond a similar articulation style, Tristano’s recording offers us more reverb than what’s captured in Gould’s recording; combined with more warmth from his Yamaha piano, the Tristano recording benefits, for me, from a more enjoyable piano sound.
And while piano sound isn’t the same as technique, I feel—and will say it again—that I believe Tristano is very concerned about this sound so much that it drives his technical approach to how to articulate this music.
Beyond touch, Tristano is more open to providing dynamic variation than Gould. For his reading I get more of the feel of phrasing that’s been suggested as a baroque way of thinking about the smaller rhythmic “cells” in the music that reference rhetorical gestures. This consistently reveals itself in Tristano’s playing. And many times I think it’s fresh, especially so hearing it rendered this way upon a piano.
And yes, there are times that Gould’s inconsistent approach, by comparison, has its charms.
And even though I find Tristano might have varied his approach with regards to rubato, more use of legato, or even (gasps!) use of the pedal to connect things, I applaud the consistency here. It’s not going to be to everyone’s liking, but it nevertheless provides a freshness that for me, at least, forces me to hear some of this familiar music in a new light.
All said, Tristano’s technique, while admirable, is at the forefront of this recital. Combined with Bach’s music played at many rapid tempi, leaves the dust on this old music behind. I know when I crave Bach and need it presented cleanly, stressed at times by how quickly the notes pass me, this recording will be locked into my grip.
