Simone Dinnerstein's first recording for Sony Classical, BACH: A STRANGE BEAUTY, has the critically-acclaimed pianist returning to Bach,this time combining three transcriptions of his Chorale Preludes, with one of his English Suites and two of his Keyboard Concerti, again revealing her intense and expressive playing style, as well as her individual approach to Bach's music.

"The trees are coming into leaf/Like something almost being said." Taking a cue from these lines of Philip Larkin, pianist Simone Dinnerstein casts her album of the music of J.S. Bach and Franz Schubert in poetic terms. Her understanding of the composers is summed up in her own words: "The music of Bach and Schubert share a distinctive quality, as if wordless voices were singing textless melodies." Of course, Bach and Schubert were masters of setting texts to profoundly expressive music, so it is fruitful to look for the lyrical impulse in their keyboard works and appropriate to find songful interpretations. Yet Dinnerstein doesn't merely serve up rhapsodic renditions or treat the music as some kind of tuneful vehicle for idiosyncratic or personal reveries. Her playing is quite in character for both composers, and her treatment of the material is far from self-indulgent.

2007 has been a banner year for Goldbergs; no less than five recorded versions of the piece had appeared by the end of July, including a digitally reinterpreted incarnation of Glenn Gould's famous 1955 recording and Wilhelm Middelschulte's bizarre, psychedelic 1924 transcription of the work for organ. In the face of such circumstances, no one would blame music critics for throwing up their hands and saying something like "enough already!" Nevertheless, thankfully the Goldberg Variations is not that kind of a piece, its appeal is both immutable and universal. Ultimately it comes down to the personality of the keyboard player to make something out of the Goldberg Variations that stands apart from the pack, and young pianist Simone Dinnerstein has managed to do that with her glorious rendering of Bach's cycle for Telarc. Her rendering of the Aria is slower than the norm and her approach to tempo throughout is very elastic; there is nothing rigid about her interpretation of the work. Dinnerstein's reading involves a great deal of give and take, seeking to deepen the expressive potential of Bach's music without losing sight of its basic shape.

On one level, A Character of Quiet showcases music by two composers separated by two centuries—three mesmerizing études by Philip Glass, followed by one of the piano’s greatest works, Schubert’s final sonata, D 960. But there’s more at play here. Performing from her home, Simone Dinnerstein explores the ties that bound all of us during 2020’s lockdown by discovering links between these two apparently contrasting composers. The gently insistent figuration that underpins Glass’ “Etude No. 2,” for instance, forms the backbone of Schubert’s glorious “Andante,” a movement that thrives as much in its expectant silences as in its transcendent sounds. But zoom out, and you’ll simply hear two composers expressively yet tentatively finding a way forward. A beautiful meditation on human vulnerability.

Fusions of the music of J.S. Bach with contemporary popular and vernacular-based traditions comes in many flavors; even bluegrass mandolinist Chris Thile is reportedly set to release a Bach album. This one, by Estonian conductor Kristjan Järvi and his Absolute Ensemble, is both more fearless and better than most. The Absolute Ensemble is a young group whose members are encouraged to explore classical music with improvisatory freedom, with classical musicians exploring jazz and vice versa. "To be, this would be a dream come true. It's as if the Palestinians and the Israelis would agree to a lasting peace," Järvi says.