Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Predictably, there's much to admire in Maurizio Pollini's first Bach recording: the sovereign authority projected through every bar, the sense of balance and aristocratic detachment, the perfect weight of tone. But, disappointingly, there are also few of the moments of revelation, exaltation or simple poetry that come from the versions of the first book of the 48 Preludes and Fugues by Glenn Gould and Angela Hewitt. ­Pollini often allows movements to ­unfold ­without his ­intervention, so that some of the more substantial fugues, in ­particular, tend to lose their way, ­however strikingly they begin. His ­conception of the E flat minor fugue's opening as a lonely trace of ­silvery sound is remarkable, but as the piece – one of the longest in the entire set – goes on, his playing becomes more ­mechanical, and the focus blurs. The mechanics of the music come across far more clearly than any creative impulse behind them.