Pierre-Laurent Aimard - J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (2014) Hi-Res

It's a bit hard to ascertain what has propelled French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard to popularity that extends beyond usual classical spheres. He specializes in precisely the kind of High Modernist music that generally discourages crossover audiences. In earlier music he is an odd combination of precise and mercurial, and perhaps that's what people like about him. Bach's 24 preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 846-869, are a very diverse palette. It's a pianistic interpretation, with each prelude and fugue pair matched generally as to mood, but with subtle variation in the relationships across the set. The opening C major prelude is heavily pedaled and almost impressionistic, but after that Aimard backs off and begins to take a sinewy contrapuntal approach that emphasizes the little dissonances that are so much a part of the experience of playing Bach or listening to him closely. Whether or not the whole thing holds together is a matter of the individual listener's opinion, but it's not boring, and Aimard is aided by fine studio sound from Deutsche Grammophon that captures all the shades of what he is doing. Ultimately, Aimard's unexpected popularity may be all to the good.