I was quite excited
to find this disc had been sent to me
for review — there are not many piano
transcriptions of Bach’s monumental
and difficult passacaglia out there.
The only other that I found briefly
available is the amazing performance
by Igor Zhukov playing his own transcription
for Melodiya back in 1966 (the BMG/Melodiya
item number is 74321-33214-2 nla).
This transcription,
as with the Zhukov, is the performer’s
own, and depending on your preferences
regarding how Bach should sound, you
may choose one over the other. When
I say ‘how Bach should sound’,
I refer not to organ vs. piano. I’d
probably be more clear if I said ‘how
Bach should be played’, referring
to tempi, interior voices in the counterpoint
and dynamics. Zhukov sticks closely
to a strict tempo, as well as to an
approximation of the various stops of
the organ that are present in the original
version of the piece. It is played
like Bach, with allegiance less to pianism
than to the instrument for which the
work was originally written. It sounds
like an organ piece transcribed for
piano.
Sato, here, plays Bach
much as one would play Chopin or Liszt
- and it is no surprise that a Liszt
piece is next in the track listing;
this may rub some the wrong way. Sato’s
approach shows his allegiance to the
pianistic. It sounds like a Liszt adaptation
of the piece. Romanticisms abound; the
basso ostinato opening is far
slower than the Zhukov or the organ
performances of the work I have heard,
but by halfway in, he is going at a
clip very much faster than when he first
started. There is much rubato
and some things get lost in the shuffle
that remain clear in the Zhukov. Much
is here that is amazing, but the flashiness
and inclusion of things for effect (glissandi
at the end of the fugue — in Bach?)
may stand in the way of enjoyment for
some. The piece shines through, but
in comparison, this reviewer recommends
the Zhukov transcription.
The transcription Sato
does next, of Liszt’s Psalm 13,
is a more comfortable fit. The piece
opens with the piano rolling in the
bass and a three note figure - the same
descending figure, it turns out, as
the opening notes in Rachmaninov’s Prelude
in c-sharp minor, transposed up a fifth.
This is Liszt that sounds like
Liszt and is played like Liszt, in perfect
keeping with Liszt’s own many transcriptions.
The program notes indicate that the
piece is not a particularly pianistic
work, which is certainly true, but Sato
here does very well in bringing a piece
for tenor, chorus and orchestra into
the repertoire of the piano.
An additional great
treat is the transcription of Franck’s
violin sonata in A, as transcribed by
piano virtuoso Alfred Cortot. I was
not previously aware of such a transcription,
and Cortot’s inclusion of the singing
violin line here is done with great
artistry, sometimes needing to shift
octaves to make the piece playable by
a mere two hands.
The playing here is
superb, and I recommend this disc for
the Liszt-Sato and the Franck-Cortot.
Regarding the passacaglia, I recommend
the Zhukov over this, but this disc
is an impressive and ambitious program
worthy of notice.
David Blomenberg
Junichi Steven Sato (piano) 
