Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) composed the Inventions and Sinfonias as keyboard lessons for his sons to help them master the instrument, and never imagined that 300 years later they would still be admired, analysed, studied and used as learning material by piano students all over the world. But despite being short and elemental, they still contain the stamp of Bach's genius and harmonic fluency. They are short studies on the basics of balancing and mastering the playing of 2 parts (Inventions) and 3 parts (Sinfonias) simultaneously. In my opinion some of the best fundamental pieces for training the brain to multitask and process multiple independent lines, and bring them all into focus as one.

They would have been conceived for the harpsichord and Chilean-American pianist Paulina Zamora plays them as such. Highly articulate, punctilious, with clear distinction of individual parts and generally rapid tempos. Bach never bothered to leave tempo markings for posterity, so musicologists, editors and publishers down the line took it upon themselves to, based on strict criteria, establish general tempo and dynamic guidelines. Now let's take the Invention No. 8 in F major, BWV 779, one of the more lively in the set, as an example. My edition suggests 120 to the quarter note but Paulina Zamora seems to be closer to the 144 mark suggested by the Czerny edition. Compare that with the early Columbia recording by Glenn Gould at a sluggish 100 and Zamora sounds like she's flying. She dives right in and doesn't come up for air until the very end a mere 45 seconds later, which makes for an exhilarating performance. She also very well defines the leading lines as they move from treble to bass clef, from hand to hand, and keeps our ears focused on the motivic cells at all times, as in the Invention No. 5 in E-flat Major, BWV 776. Bach's more lyrical, emotive side is also well projected in her dignified and highly expressive interpretation of the Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795.

The Fazioli piano used for this recording is ideally suited to Bach's clarity of thought, with a pellucid upper register and a solid and well defined bottom end which complement each other.