BACH: “ITALIAN” CONCERTO; FRENCH SUITE NO. 5;...

BACH: “ITALIAN” CONCERTO; FRENCH SUITE NO. 5; FRENCH OVERTURE, BWV 831. Andras Schiff, piano. Omega OCD 1014. Schiff’s Bach playing can seem two-dimensional to the Gould-touched listener. Here, Schiff subverts all detail to the melodic line, which he explores in a calm, singing style, always avoiding overstatement. Coloristic shadings and varied articulation, too, are eschewed. Yet these undemonstrative readings are engaging in their own way, as a study in Bach’s flowing melodicism.