Classical: Murray Perahia

J.S. Bach, Partitas 2, 3, and 4 ****

The love affair between Murray Perahia and J.S. Bach continues. In the American-born pianist's first Sony-BMG recording in three years, he plays three of the six keyboard exercises that Bach described as "galanteries composed for music lovers to refresh their spirits."

As with his set of "Goldberg Variations" of eight years ago, Perahia achieves an exquisite balance between pianistic sensitivity -- enough pedal to give the sound a glow, enough rubato to make a phrase "sing" -- and disciplined attention to the Baroque form and energy of Bach's music. One might like a few more ornaments (Bach played loads), but they tend to muddy the waters on a piano.

Why, one wonders, did we love Glenn Gould's dry and sometimes willfully speedy Bach interpretations of the 1950s and '60s? Because he made us listen to the music again, after decades of heavy pedal and soupy romantic interpretation. Perahia makes us hear the music again, too, by playing with warm-heartedness to lift the notes off the page and set them dancing in your mind. Listen to the fugue that ends No. 4, for example, and try to avoid smiling. Nos. 1, 5 and 6 can't be far behind.

(Note: Because of a skin condition, Perahia left the concert tour that would have brought him to UNC-CH on April 5 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He's being replaced by conductor Neville Marriner and pianist Yuja Wang.)