Murry Perahia plays Bach is too simple a title and off
the mark in terms of a verb.  Mr. Perahia showcases a
selection of the great works of Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach. 
Mr. Perahia was a dear friend of  the late Vladimir Horowitz,
and if J.S. Bach had been a contemporary, he too would
have been a friend-especially if he had heard the fine job of bringing his compositions to the keys of a piano.  

The music is regal and beautiful and a lot of that goes to the fine composition by Bach, but without a talented pianist like Perahia, the result could be unjust and painful.  Mr. Perahia 
is one of the world's gifted pianists and this new album is another testament to that fact.

As Conductor And Soloist, Perahia Tours U.S.
From October 12 - November 3 In Programs That Include
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Featured On New Recording

(New York, NY, September 24, 2003) — In the wake of two universally acclaimed recordings of J.S. Bach’s keyboard concertos, pianist Murray Perahia completes his cycle of the concertos with his latest Sony Classical recording with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Perahia’s recent exploration of Bach’s music — including his Grammy-winning recording of the English Suites and his best-selling, Gramophone Award-winning disc of the Goldberg Variations — has added a new facet both to his discriminating repertoire and to his artistry. As in the previous concerto recordings, he is both soloist and conductor on the new disc in the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050, and the Concerto in A Minor for Flute, Violin and Clavier, BWV 1044, and he also plays the solo Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. The new Bach recording will be released on Tuesday, October 7, 2003.

The release comes on the eve of Perahia’s American tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which will include performances of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Perahia and the orchestra will perform the concerto at the new Disney Hall in Los Angeles (October 28) and in the first of two concerts at Davies Hall in San Francisco (November 2), as well as in concerts in Newark NJ (October 12), New Brunswick NJ (October 16), Lawrence KS (October 22) and Lincoln NE (October 24).

On the new recording, the performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 — the first keyboard concerto on record — completes Perahia’s cycle of Bach’s known concertos for the solo keyboard instrument. Bach himself played the clavier, a forerunner of the piano as it is known today, but his keyboard music has always been seen as an enduring foundation of the core- classical piano literature. As in all his Bach recordings, Perahia performs on a modern concert grand piano, and he conducts the orchestra from the keyboard, following Baroque custom. Violinist Kenneth Sillito and flutist Jaime Martin join Perahia as soloists in the Concerto for Flute, Violin and Clavier.

The Italian Concerto, also featured on the new disc, is a solo work that poses special challenges for the modern pianist. Bach specified a double-manual harpsichord for the Italian Concerto, with the main manual supplying the ritornello (the accompanying ensemble part) and the secondary manual the solo lines. On the new recording, Perahia distinguishes these parts through the use of dynamic contrasts.

Murray Perahia assumed the post of principal guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 2000, making his U.S. conducting debut in a tour with the orchestra in the spring of 2001. In the upcoming tour, Perahia will conduct a second program that includes the orchestral arrangement of Beethoven’s String Quartet No.12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127, which he and the Academy are scheduled to record soon for Sony Classical. These programs - which will also feature Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, with Perahia as soloist and conductor - will be heard in the second San Francisco concert (November 3) and at Benaroya Hall in Seattle (October 26), as well as Iowa City IA (October 18), Santa Barbara CA (October 29) and Costa Mesa CA (October 31).

One of the most acclaimed pianists of his time, Murray Perahia has been an exclusive Sony Classical artist for more than 25 years. In addition to acclaim he received for his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (5K 89243), Perahia was awarded a Grammy for his disc of the composer’s English Suites Nos. 1, 3 & 6 (SK 60276) and won a Grammy nomination for his disc of Bach’s Keyboard Concertos Nos. 3, 5, 6 & 7 (5K 89690). In February 2003, the pianist won his third Grammy for his Sony Classical recording of the complete Chopin Etudes (5K 61885). His most recent release is a two-disc integral recording of the three last Schubert sonatas (S2K 87796).

Pianist Murray Perahia’s new Bach concerto recording with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields will be featured at www.murrayperahia.com on Sony Classical’s Web site at www.sonyclassical.com 

In the more than 30 years he has been performing on the concert stage, Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. He performs in all of the major international music centers and with every leading orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and South East Asia. Recently, Perahia embarked on an ambitious project to edit the complete Beethoven Sonatas for the Henle Urtext Edition.

Perahia’s 2003-04 season includes recitals throughout North America and Europe, tours with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in both North America and Europe, as well as European tours with the Camerata Salzburg and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Perahia has a wide and varied discography. Most recently, he has recorded a third disc of Bach keyboard concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (for international release this fall), including Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, the Concerto for Flute, Violin and Piano, and the solo Italian Concerto. Earlier this year, Sony Classical released his recording of Franz Schubert’s three final Piano Sonatas (D. 958, 959 and 960). Perahia’s recording of Frédéric Chopin’s complete Etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25, won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance. The pianist’s special association with the music of Bach is evident in his recordings of Bach Keyboard Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields as well as his recording of the composer’s Goldberg Variations, which received two Grammy nominations and won the 2001 Gramophone Award for Best Instrumental Recording. It was on the Top 10 Billboard Classical Chart for 15 weeks. In 1999, he won a Grammy for his recording of Bach’s English Suites (Nos. 1, 3, and 6), and in 1995 and 1997, he won Gramophone magazine awards for albums of Chopin ballades and music by Handel and Scarlatti. In 1998 Sony Classical released a four-disc set commemorating 25 years of his recordings issued under this label.

Born in New York, Perahia started playing piano at the age of four, and later attended Mannes College where he majored in conducting and composition. His summers were spent in Marlboro, where he collaborated with such musicians as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals, and the members of the Budapest String Quartet. He also studied at the time with Mieczyslaw Horszowski. In subsequent years, he developed a close friendship with Vladimir Horowitz whose perspective and personality were an abiding inspiration.

In 1972 Perahia won the Leeds International Piano Competition. In 1973
he gave his first concert at the Aldeburgh Festival, where he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, accompanying the latter in many lieder recitals. Perahia was co-artistic director of the Festival from 1981 to 1989.

Perahia is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, and he holds an honorary doctorate from Leeds University.