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I have never heard "Book 1" done better. You hear Bach with new ears.Grego Applegate Edwards
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Ishizaka plays the 24 preludes and fugues with impeccable taste and techniqueDonald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine -
A gifted and obviously devoted BachianJames Oestreich, New York Times -
A brilliant performance and brilliant set all around!Robert Cummings, Classical.net -
She has a very poetic touch, and seems to have a wide variety of colours at her fingertipsRobert Hugill
In his review of Kimiko Ishizaka's recording of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Robert Cummings heaps on ample praise while comparing Ishizaka directly to Glenn Gould and Sviatoslav Richter. He enumerates many of the individual preludes and fugues as a means of finding specific aspects of Ishizaka's playing to compliment. Here is a fitting sample of his impressions:
"I could thus go on citing further examples of her superior skills, but let me draw your attention to just one more: try the Prelude and Fugue, in B minor, that close the set. Tension builds subtly in the agitated Prelude and is left unresolved. The same unsettled manner remains in the massive Fugue, but here Ishizaka imparts a more animated and tortured sense to the music with an insistent, almost mechanical style that brims with tension."
"elegant, spirited, technically impressive, and ever sensitive to the expressive character of the music"
"Ishizaka subtly employs various shadings of dynamics, uses a fair amount of legato, and phrases the music with a keen sense for Bach's expressive soul."
"A brilliant performance and brilliant set all around!"