J. S. Bach: The English Suites Zhu Xiao-Mei

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808:
• 1 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: I. Prélude 03:21
• 2 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: II. Allemande 02:27
• 3 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: III. Courante 01:47
• 4 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: IV. Sarabande 03:17
• 5 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: V. Gavotte I 00:47
• 6 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: VI. Gavotte II - Gavotte I da capo 01:13
• 7 Bach: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: VII. Gigue 02:09
• English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806:
• 8 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: I. Prélude 02:01
• 9 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: II. Allemande 03:12
• 10 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: III. Courante I 00:50
• 11 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: IV. Courante II 01:13
• 12 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: V. Double I 01:08
• 13 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: VI. Double II 01:12
• 14 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: VII. Sarabande 02:29
• 15 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: VIII. Bourrée I 01:03
• 16 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: IX. Bourrée II - Bourrée I da capo 01:52
• 17 Bach: English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: X. Gigue 02:01
• English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807:
• 18 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: I. Prélude 05:00
• 19 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: II. Allemande 02:28
• 20 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: III. Courante 01:17
• 21 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: IV. Sarabande 02:51
• 22 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: V. Bourrée I 01:08
• 23 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: VI. Bourrée II - Bourrée I da capo 01:42
• 24 Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: VII. Gigue 03:28
• English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810:
• 25 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: I. Prélude 05:12
• 26 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: II. Allemande 02:43
• 27 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: III. Courante 01:34
• 28 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: IV. Sarabande 01:42
• 29 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: V. Passepied I 01:14
• 30 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: VI. Passepied II - Passepied I da capo 01:42
• 31 Bach: English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: VII. Gigue 02:23
• English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809:
• 32 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: I. Prélude 04:49
• 33 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: II. Allemande 02:48
• 34 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: III. Courante 00:50
• 35 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: IV. Sarabande 01:45
• 36 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: V. Menuet I 00:53
• 37 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: VI. Menuet II - Menuet I da capo 01:31
• 38 Bach: English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: VII. Gigue 02:33
• English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811:
• 39 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: I. Prélude 08:36
• 40 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: II. Allemande 03:10
• 41 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: III. Courante 01:50
• 42 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: IV. Sarabande 01:50
• 43 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: V. Double 00:57
• 44 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: VI. Gavotte I 01:06
• 45 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: VII. Gavotte II - Gavotte I da capo 01:49
• 46 Bach: English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: VIII. Gigue 02:42
• Total Runtime 01:43:35

Info for J. S. Bach: The English Suites

Nach einer sechsjährigen Pause kehrt die gefeierte Pianistin Zhu Xiao-Mei mit einer sehr persönlichen und meisterhaften Aufnahme der Englischen Suiten von J.S. Bach zurück. Diese Veröffentlichung vervollständigt ihre gefühlvolle Reise durch Bachs Klavierkompositionen und markiert einen weiteren bedeutenden Meilenstein in ihrer außergewöhnlichen Karriere.

Dieses Projekt ist das Ergebnis jahrelanger, akribischer Vorbereitung und einer innigen Beziehung zur Musik. Zhu Xiao-Mei's Ansatz zeichnet sich durch eine tiefe Verbundenheit mit jedem Stück aus, die es ihr ermöglicht, die Feinheiten und Nuancen herauszuarbeiten, die Bachs Werk so zeitlos machen. Ihre Hingabe, Tag für Tag mit der Musik zu leben, sorgt für eine authentische und tiefgreifende Aufführung.

Die Englischen Suiten mit ihrer Mischung aus lebhaften orchestralen und zarten intimen Momenten haben einen besonderen Platz in Zhu XiaoMei's Herzen. Sie beschreibt sie als „eine Musik der Intimität“, was diese Aufnahme besonders einzigartig macht. Trotz der Herausforderungen, darunter pandemiebedingte Verzögerungen und die Suche nach dem perfekten Klavier, scheint ihre Hingabe zur Authentizität in jeder Note durch.

Zhu Xiao-Mei's einfühlsame und sensible Interpretation lädt Sie in eine Welt der Subtilität und Tiefe ein und bietet einen erfrischenden Kontrast zur heutigen schnelllebigen Musiklandschaft. Dieses Album ist nicht nur eine Vervollständigung ihrer Bach-Aufnahmen, sondern ein Meilenstein, der ihr außergewöhnliches künstlerisches Können und ihre unerschütterliche Hingabe zu Bachs zeitloser Musik unterstreicht.

Zhu Xiao-Mei, Klavier

ZHU Xiao-Mei
occupies a place all her own in today’s musical world. Deliberately keeping her concerts few and far between, she appears in public only to perform especially demanding works, “mountains of the soul” which she judges essential, in interpretations matured over a long period of gestation, taking music to the most varied audiences in places that appeal to her and where she enjoys playing. But though she is nowadays the guest of the leading concert halls and the most prestigious festivals, though she plays with some of the most renowned orchestras and gives concerts everywhere in Europe, in Asia and in America, her career very nearly never took place at all.

Born in Shanghai, introduced to music by her mother at a very early age, she was already appearing on radio and television by the time she was eight.

At the age of ten she entered the Peking Conservatory, where her brilliant studies were interrupted by the years of the Cultural Revolution. She was sent to a reeducation camp on the border of Inner Mongolia for five years. However, thanks to sympathetic helpers she was eventually able to continue playing the piano.

On returning to Peking, she completed her studies at the Conservatory, and left China as soon as the regime gave its first signs of opening to the outside worlds. In 1980 she emigrated to the United States, then decided to settle in Paris in 1984.

From that time on, the career of ZHU Xiao-Mei, although begun relatively late and without any media coverage, began to take flight, going against all trends and fashions, in an incredible demonstration of the Confucian adage that

“life begins at forty”. She gives concerts all over the world, focusing on a repertoire which she limits to a few composers she cherishes above all others: Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann. At its very centre is Bach and his great cycles: The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Partitas and the Goldberg Variations, the work with which her name is particularly associated and which she has given in recital more than two hundred times, as well as The Art of Fugue.

Her autobiography La Rivière et son secret was published by Editions Robert Laffont (Paris) in October 2007 and was awarded the Grand Prix des Muses in 2008 (English translation at amazoncrossing: The Secret Piano).

ZHU Xiao-Mei is regularly invited to partipate to the jurys of international piano competitions (Clara Haskil, Long-Thibaud, Bach Leipzig,…). She has also teached during many years at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.

This album contains no booklet.