Harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt said that Bach had written his Art of Fugue for himself, without thought of performing it on any instrument in particular. In the presence of a speculative work, every musician is free to chisel the perfect lines of polyphony as he or she chooses. Up to the final canon, which continues to pose the question of its incompletion. It is the Franco-Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia, with his subtle, understated playing, who will make this sublime score sing. But he will do so on an untempered piano, which is hardly banal! After a first æon disc devoted to Cage, which created a tremendous stir, Cédric Pescia deploys a low-key art in Bach, a sense of rhythm combined with a rubato of extreme subtlety and an inventiveness in the phrasings and ornaments, both flowing and sharp, that have no equivalent in the discography. Such relief, such life!

While any of Liszt's superb transcriptions of Beethoven's first eight symphonies is a challenge for the pianist, the two-piano arrangement of the Ninth is at once spellbinding and a formidable test. This remarkable synthesis of soloists, chorus and orchestra presents a powerful structure that condenses all the fearsome difficulties of ensemble playing for the two pianists. This version by Philippe Cassard and Cédric Pescia displays extraordinary nobility, truth and grandeur, with the epic sweep ideally suited to the "Ode to Joy".