Federico Colli - J.S. Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004. Rec 2018

Arranged by for solo piano – Ferruccio Busoni

Chandos – CHAN 20079
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Steinway Model D (serial no. 592 087) concert grand piano courtesy of Potton Hall
Recording venue Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk; 17 – 19 May 2018

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"Known for his highly imaginative and philosophical approaches to his musical presentations, Federico Colli is back with a second album on Chandos. Having begun with Scarlatti sonatas, he now turns his hand to the great master J.S. Bach to explore the relationship between Bach’s music for keyboard and what Colli regards as its transcendent quality, its universal beauty. In a personal note for the booklet, Colli explains how he arrived at the extraordinary interpretations captured here. The relationship he explores is discoverable in the Italian Concerto and Partita No. 4, but it is in Ferruccio Busoni’s arrangement of Bach’s Chaconne that the relationship, in his view, becomes clear. Colli offers the listener a vivid interpretation which links the progress of the piece, rich in symbolic detail, to important stages in the life, and afterlife, of Christ, different re-iterations of the theme and of the tonalities corresponding with key moments in the religious narrative. As always, Colli gives deeply felt and exciting performances, his irrepressible personality and flair evident throughout."

Reviews:

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“…a fascinating account of three of Bach’s greatest keyboard works – the Partita No. 4; the Italian Concerto; and the Chaconne from Partita No.2 – on this exceptionally well recorded new Chandos issue…”
David Mellor – ClassicFM – 5 June 2019

“… This is an intelligently compiled programme, stunningly performed, in immaculate sound. Do not hesitate.”
Richard Hanlon – MusicWeb-International.com – 28 March 2019

“The young Italian pianist Frederico Colli makes a persuasive case for Bach on a modern Steinway, fabulously recorded at Potton hall in Suffolk… The Bach/Busoni Chaconne is incredibly robust and powerful, Busoni’s writing adding a fascinating layer to the preceding tracks. This is Colli’s fourth Chandos release and confirms his position as a pianist of note. One awaits the next impatiently” *****
Colin Clarke – International Piano magazine – March/April 2019

“… Colli’s Bach playing is from an expressive standpoint in the Romantic tradition … His use of the sustaining pedal is … admirably restrained. The ‘Ouverture’ of the D major Partita is crisply and coherently articulated, and the ‘Courante’ is delivered with spirit and impressive technical control. The poetic ‘Allemande’ is treated to a reflective delicacy which, on its own terms, is irresistible; and the concluding ‘Gigue’ is characterised by linear clarity and a playful, at times puckish demeanour…”
Nicholas Anderson – BBC Music magazine – February 2019

“… it’s a monumentally well-paced performance that grips from each moment to the next.” *****
Erica Jeal – The Guardian – 11 January 2019

“…Whatever he plays, whatever he does, Colli compels attention … I’d place this D major Partita as the album’s real transcendent experience. It’s here that the clarity of Colli’s fingerwork brings the most benefit, along with his engineering skills. Over the work’s half-hour span every movement is carefully weighted to form part of a whole … At his best Colli makes most other pianists appear thin and flat. On this album, you get three dimensions, sometimes more.” *****
Geoff Brown – The Times – 11 January 2019

“… there are many ravishing and compelling moments in his reading, and he has not only an epic technique but boundless imagination too … there’s no doubt that Colli is one of the more original thinkers of his generation.”
Harriet Smith – Gramophone magazine – January 2019

Federico Colli
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