Zhu Xiao-Mei, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach
Die Kunst der Fuge
Johann Sebastian Bach plays a key role in her life – she is today one of the most significant interpreters of his music. The remarkable biography of this celebrated pianist gives her a unique position in the world of music. Her life has taken her from the re-education camps of the Chinese Cultural Revolution to Paris, where her international career as a pianist began rather late, but for that all the more successful. In Leipzig, where Bach held his final professional position and where he composed The Art of Fugue, Zhu Xiao-Mei recorded this contrapuntal masterpiece, which is for her “the absolute zenith of polyphonic art.” As she says, “The Art of Fugue exercises a total fascination on you. It’s like a magnet: you can’t detach yourself from it. It is music that opens the gates to an infinite world where time no longer exists; a world where beauty and peace reign supreme, detached from all earthly contingencies.“
“Piano playing that goes straight to the heart of the matter and knows no fear. Zhu Xiao-Mei is on intimate terms with masterpieces.” Le Monde
“While the discourse intensifies and the texture becomes opaque over time, the pianist preserves this inner light. In doing so, she establishes a wonderful proximity between the listener and the composer, therefore making it accessible and poetic, which is very rare.” Classica, Choc de l’année 2014
“This is music for the mind. In the hands of Zhu Xiao-Mei, the Art of the Fugue becomes the Art of Living.” Norman Lebrecht
