Erschienen
in "The New York Times", 01. November 1987:
Andreas Bach
Auspicious
debuts of the sort made by Andreas Bach at the 92d Street Y last
Saturday night are rare. The pianist, from Westerwald, Germany, is
19 years old but betrayed few of the flaws one naturally expects
from a teen age performer. His performances were graced by an
exceptional intelligence and sensitivity. lt this concert served
as fair illustration, Mr. Bach would seem to be at the start of a
significant career. The young player - who sported an Aubrey
Beardsley style haircut - and carried himself with endearing
modesty possessed a rock solid technique that was never employed
for its own sake but that allowed him to untangle neatly the
various contrapuntal lines in Honegger's "Prelude, Arioso et
Fughetta sur le nom de BACH;' and to move with unusual ease
through the knottiest passages in Liszt's B-minor-Ballade, a work
that, for once, was made to sound like more than merely a
showpiece.
Mr. Bach displayed a natural, understated way
with rubato, a keen understanding of rests and silences, and a
serious, unerringly poetic spirit, one that allowed him to create
an atmosphere of rapt concentration during the adagio movement in
Beethoven's "Tempest" Sonata. Unlike so many young
players, he avoided rushing or pushing up the volume to make
statements more emphatically. He understood just how to hold back
and pace the drama for the most effect. His tendency was toward
performances of introspection and subtle coloristics, even during
the F minor Sonata (Op.5) by Brahms, with which he closed his
program.
