Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The Well Tempered Clavier: Book I, BWV 846-869
Minsoo Sohn (piano)
rec. 2026, Concert Hall of Schloss Elmau, Germany
Hyperion CDA68501/2 [2 CDs: 121]

Minsoo Sohn’s track record in J.S. Bach has previously been established in his recording of the Goldberg Variations as part of the Honens Laureate Series following his first Laureate win at the 2006 Honens International Piano Competition. This album received widespread critical praise, with The New York Times proclaiming it as one of the best classical recordings of 2011. I had a listen to this by way of ‘tuning in’ to Sohn’s approach to Bach, though of course many years have passed since then. This recording of BWV 988 does indeed have many admirable qualities, with Sohn able to play technically flawless and often spectacular Bach in a non-pretentious and a stylishly expressive way, and with a personal touch that draws you in and keeps you engaged for just under 75 minutes, which is no mean feat even with Bach’s endlessly fascinating notes with which to work.  

At the time of writing in the final months of 2026, Sohn is touring his Well-Tempered Clavier – Book 1 with numerous concerts throughout Korea and the US, so this timely Hyperion release will be a nice souvenir for his audiences. This is certainly a well recorded set with a mellow sound from the Steinway instrument used but there does seem to be a bit of ‘bloom’ around the mid-range which makes the sound perhaps more plummy than many other piano recordings. The concert hall in Schloss Elmau isn’t vast and has an acoustic not a million miles away from that at Wyastone Leys, which is well known for piano recordings. There is a nice acoustic ‘bounce’ from the piano sound, but nothing that takes away from the nuance and detail in the playing. 

With his Goldberg Variations still resonating in my mind, Minsoo Sohn’s WTC Book 1 follows similar lines. Sohn’s approach eschews extremes in terms of tempo, and so you can relax around his performance without much fear that traditional expectations will be distorted in the name of wilful mannerism. The music skips and dances where it needs to, is expressive and searching, dramatic and reflective by turns in that way that brings us back to these pieces again and again. Bach might not always be considered a composer with much of a sense of humour, but why should this not have been the case if you hear the joy and fun in Sohn’s take on the Fugue in C sharp major, making the contrast between this and the following Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor all the greater, in which Sohn wrings every ounce of poetry from the notes with a certain amount of romanticism but just about keeping within the bounds of good taste, while also going full Busoni in the final bars. Seekers of a dryer, more historically authentic approach will no doubt find this takes the music too far away from Bach might have expected in his day, but in the first case we have no idea how he might have played it himself, or indeed how he would have played it if at the driving seat of a modern piano.

Sohn is willing to use more pedal than the likes of Angela Hewitt, and you can hear this in the atmosphere he creates in the opening of the Prelude in E flat major. I quite like this bell-like approach, and it takes little or nothing away from the clarity of Bach’s melodic narrative and creates contrast with the skipping rhythms and flying accents in the following fugue. The Prelude in E flat minor is a bit special, taking J.S. Bach into C.P.E. Bach territory with its quiet, ‘innig’ quality; a kind of suppressed theatricality with slightly elongated spaces and moulded dynamic strata, all of these expressive characteristics and their shared sense of touch creating a link to the accompanying fugue.

These qualities run through this recording like the letters in a stick of Blackpool rock. Minsoo Sohn inhabits and brings to life the key and character of each prelude and fugue, making each pairing a satisfying whole and creating a keen sense of anticipation as we go through those familiar transitions from one BWV to the next. On the way we are given additional pause for thought by his reading of pieces such as the Fugue in F minor, which he somehow turns into a profound funerary processional. The improvisatory feel of his touch in the final Prelude and Fugue B minor somehow gives its dissonances a renewed sense of surprise and delicious shock amongst some of Bach’s more exotic harmonic cornering – ‘what will he do next?’ we ask ourselves, while thinking that we already know the music back to front.  

This 2 CD set comes with thorough booklet notes by Jessica Duchen and is presented to the usual Hyperion high standard. With so many excellent recordings of this work available on piano, from Angela Hewitt to Till Fellner and from Sviatoslav Richter to Roger Woodward, I hadn’t really expected to be super impressed by this Hyperion release, but I have to say it joins the top rank and is a solid ‘keeper’ even for collectors with many versions already on their shelves. Let’s hope Minsoo Sohn tackles Book 2 before too long.

Dominy Clements

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