Native DSD Music » Albums » 2L139 Bach Inside Polyphony
Catalog Number: 2L139
Klassiskmusikk -
Audiophile Sound Italy
Christian Grøvlen, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
- Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor
- Sinfonias
- French Suite No. 3
- Partita No. 5
Bach - Inside Polyphony (2017)
Christian Grøvlen
In this project "Bach - Inside Polyphony" Christian Grøvlen approach the composers rich and moving world from the inside, not only spiritually, but also in pure sound. He set out to color each voice intimately and through the recording process to come as close to the polyphony as possible. With this work he has opened new doors towards the communicative power of the music itself, the understanding of his own piano playing and aspects of his artistry and personality. All in order to present this magnificent music as clearly and honestly as possible for the listener to take part in.
"This project has taught me many things – most importantly, to listen. The smallest detail becomes amplified through the microphones. Recording Bach has brought me a new understanding of my playing, of the music and of the pianistic realm. It was not so much a feeling of reaching a goal, as of being given a brand new starting point, and a greater horizon. Bach is generous, perhaps more so than most composers. Everything is there, each note carries a specific meaning within a complete whole – all we have to do is play, and listen. To do that, to play and to listen, is the very essence of our art and the most difficult thing to achieve. For me, working on this felt like a return and a departure at the same time – a complete circle, as if I were finally saying what I had always thought. I am very grateful for the experience, and I hope the result can bring joy to others as well."
- Christian Grøvlen, piano
There is also a Sennheiser Special Edition of this album: 2L139SEN
If you would like to compare the two versions, you can purchase both at the same time with a 25% discount.
Use code: 2x2L139
valid through Jan 1st, 2020
I have lived in music for as long as I can remember. I am a pianist because we had a piano at home, something for which I am utterly grateful. The piano is, in my opinion, the complete instrument, second only to the human voice. I have been lucky enough to have had a succession of great teachers, respectively in Bergen, Oslo, Vienna and Copenhagen.
I made my official concert debut in Universitetets Aula in May 2015 in Oslo, and at the Bergen International Festival in June the same year.
I have a strong, supporting family who has helped me and encouraged me in my work. Art in all its forms has influenced me, and so has great musicians like Rachmaninov, Cortot, Kleiber and Norman. But most of all, I have always felt that making music is a social activity, a unique form of communication, clearer and more emmediate than language. Music gives our thoughts and our feelings wings. To take part in the flight is my great privilige as an artist.
Christian Grøvlen, 2017
photo: from booklet 2L139
On Bach "Inside Polyphony", we get a superlative recording from 2L with pianist Christian Grovlen. The album is available to download in state-of-the-art two and five channel DXD and DSD formats. On the album, we find a refined reading that offers ample piano expression, details and rhythms, with a timbropianistico of excellence by a recording that even in two-channel proves a reference for the recording of this instrument. Christian Grovlen is the interpreter and the program contains Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, some "Symphonies", the French Suite n. 3 and Paritait n. 5. It is a small compendium of Bach's keyboard production. After careful listening, the album's surprise is the naturalness of the recording that with "soft" and "captivating" tones, offers the mosaic texture and the most elaborate counterpoint without veils. A transparent window on the partiture that protects us from extravagance. Good listening indeed.
Marco Cicogna[read full review]
Klassiskmusikk	-
2L makes bold claims for this recording. They suggest that we can expect something revolutionary, perhaps as innovative as Glenn Gould's approach was to Bach in his day. I can have to confess that I am not entirely persuaded that Christian Grøvlen lives up to the claims of their intro. But taken on its own terms, just as music, there's no arguing that there's some wonderful playing here. Grøvlen has a warm, rounded tone, helped by 2L's luminous recorded sound. The clarity of the counterpoint is indeed remarkable. Grøvlen plays with immense calm and poise in the slower movements and with a dancing lightness in the more jovial ones. It's the kind of musicianship you will reach for when you come in from a hellish day at the office. It will iron the stress out of your day.
Martin Anderson [read full review]
When it comes to Bach's keyboard works transscribed for piano, one is almost always faced with two possible types of readings. One that intends to 'clear the piano' as an ideal instrument to perform the music of Bach and the other that tries to mediate the piano as the last link in a chain that originates from the harpsichord and clavichord and which inherits from these latter two the constructive and emotional tensions of the expressed sound. The approach chosen by 27-year-old Norwegian pianist Christian Grovlen to record this work dedicated to 'Polyphony Bach' is the first type of reading. His piano performance gives way to sonorities capable of enhancing the phrasing and the 'polyphonic encounter' present in the works performed here (the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, the Symphonies, the French Suite No. 3 and the Partita No. 5). The result is really interesting both in conception and in its realization. It puts Christian Grovlen as an interpreter par excellence among those who belong to the latest generations of pianists."
Andrea Bedetti[read full review]
Mastering Engineer: Morten Lindberg
Mastering Room: 2L (Lindberg Lyd, Norway)
Microphones: DPA 4041-S high voltage
Mixing Board: Merging PYRAMIX
This is the main edition of the album, recorded with DPA 4041-S omnidirectional microphones. More details: http://www.2L.no/pages/album/139.html
Producer: Morten Lindberg
Recording Engineer: Morten Lindberg
Recording location: Sofienberg Church, Norway, November 2016
Recording Type & Bit Rate: DXD (24/352.8)
2L139: Bach - Inside Polyphony
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903 - Fantasia
Bach 00:06:54 Select quality & channels above
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903 - Fugue
Sinfonia No. 1 in C major, BWV 787
Sinfonia No. 2 in C minor, BWV 788
Sinfonia No. 3 in D major, BWV 789
Sinfonia No. 4 in D minor, BWV 790
Sinfonia No. 5 in E-flat major, BWV 791
Sinfonia No. 6 in E major, BWV 792
Sinfonia No. 7 in E minor, BWV 793
Sinfonia No. 8 in F major, BWV 794
Sinfonia No. 9 in F minor, BWV 795
Sinfonia No. 10 in G major, BWV 796
Sinfonia No. 11 in G minor, BWV 797
Sinfonia No. 12 in A major, BWV 798
Sinfonia No. 13 in A minor, BWV 799
Sinfonia No. 14 in B-flat major, BWV 800
Sinfonia No. 15 in B minor, BWV 801
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - I. Allemande
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - II. Courante
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - III. Sarabande
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - IV. Anglaise Gavotte
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - V. Menuet and Trio
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 - VI. Gigue
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - I. Praeambulum
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - II. Allemande
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - III. Corrente
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - IV. Sarabande
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - V. Tempo di Minuetto
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - VI. Passepied
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 - VII. Gigue
Connected Albums
Bach - Inside Polyphony - Sennheiser Special Editi
Maja S.K. Ratkje - And Sing
Ratkje
Tartini: Secondo Natura
Tartini
Stale Kleiberg: Do You Believe in Heather?
Stale Kleiberg
Furatus
Nielsen, Hardingtonar, Shostakovich