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

After a six-year hiatus, acclaimed pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei returns with a deeply personal and masterful recording of J.S. Bach’s English Suites. This release completes her heartfelt journey through Bach’s piano compositions, marking another significant milestone in her extraordinary career.

This project is the culmination of years of meticulous preparation and an intimate relationship with the music. Zhu Xiao-Mei’s approach is characterized by a profound connection to each piece, allowing her to bring out the subtleties and nuances that make Bach’s work so timeless. Her dedication to living with the music day-by-day ensures a performance that is both authentic and deeply resonant.

The English Suites, with their blend of lively orchestral and delicate intimate moments, have a special place in Zhu XiaoMei’s heart. She describes them as “a music of intimacy,” making this recording particularly unique. Despite the challenges, including pandemic-related delays and finding the perfect piano, her dedication to authenticity shines through in every note.

Zhu Xiao-Mei’s insightful and sensitive performance invites you into a world of subtlety and depth, offering a refreshing contrast to today’s fast-paced musical landscape. This album is not just a completion of her Bach recordings but a milestone that underscores her exceptional artistry and unwavering devotion to Bach’s timeless music.

Zhu Xiao-Mei, piano

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.