SPIVAKOVSKY Bach to Bloch Vol. XI

"His playing throughout is powerful, yet never barbaric or rough in tone in the faster moments; if anything, his Brahms seems more inspired by Mendelssohn than Beethoven. Particularly beautiful is the work’s Andante espressivo, one of his favorite movements in the entire pianistic repertoire. In his hands the work is magical: The bass notes resonate, while the twinkly soprano melodic notes are alert and alive in sound... If one loves Golden Age pianism, then one needs to hear these performances." - Fanfare, 2020, on Volume IX

This eleventh and final release in the Jascha Spivakovsky Bach to Bloch series finally brings us to the Bloch which we've been promised since the first volume back in 2015. A stupendous 1951 performance of his Concerto Symphonique with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Sir Eugene Goossens is almost certainly the world première recording of this brilliant work.

Appropriately enough the Bloch is coupled with Bach, in this instance a beautiful rendition of his Concerto No. 1 in D minor captured from a 1961 Australian broadcast. With this final Bach to Bloch release featuring Jascha Spivakovsky as piano soloist, we are more than ever able to appreciate the breadth of this great pianist’s repertoire and the magnitude of his highly individual interpretative abilities.