Oh dear!

I think it would be a hard thing as a solo performer to be saddled with the name "Bach". Unfortunately, I don't think Sonya Bach has yet risen to meet that burden; and it's a burden of her own making, as her real name is Park So-yeon.

I recklessly asked Alexa this morning "Play a Bach keyboard concerto" without naming a particular album or performance. Alexa responded with this:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/bach-keyboard-concertos-italian-concerto/1276624704

which is also available on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3hBLPwnpfzfkNmXvVTknmy

but I can't find it on Adagio, maybe on purpose.

From the first bars, I thought "Oh no, where is the nuance?" Not merely from Sonya Bach, but from the English Chamber Orchestra as well. The second movement of No. 5 was equally metronomic. I made it halfway through the album and gave up.

Now, having been accused of being a little harsh already this week ( 🤣 ) and knowing that the Angela Hewitt and Australian Chamber Orchestra performance, which I listen to at least once a fortnight, is hard to match, I thought I'd dig around a little to find out more about Ms. Bach. And I came across this review in Gramophone:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/sonya-bach-plays-js-bach

So if I am a little harsh, at least I'm in good company. 😀

PS. I'm going to keep my comments about the album cover for another topic!