I first heard about Simone Dinnerstein on the “recommended for you” section of my eMusic welcome page. I had recently had a hankering for some Bach keyboard works, and as fate would have it, her recording of the old guy’s Fifth French Suite popped up. “Who is this?” I thought to myself. I had never heard of her before, and after reading her bio it didn’t take long for me to realize why, or why I should have every recording she’s made.

There are very few people in the world of classical music as perseverant and tenacious as Dinnerstein.  Like any other classical pianist in the lot of them all, she’s had a critically acclaimed recording made of the standard repertoire and a début at Carnegie Hall. Unlike other classical pianists, she recorded and raised the funds for her concert - in her spare time from being a piano teacher – by herself. 

That’s not why you should listen to her though. You should listen to her because her interpretations of Bach’s music are among the freshest available. She performed tonight at Opperman Music Hall, with a program culminating in a performance of the Bach Fifth Suite. From the first note of the allemande, I sensed that something was different, even from the recording; by the time she’d finished the last strain of her flowing and energetic gigue, I was convinced that no other pianist I’d heard showed such an ability to interpret Bach’s music in such a personal yet refined way. And to speak of her technique, she’s not exactly lacking: her agility is only matched by her attention and sensitivity to style.

Between her ability to fund her way to the top of the classical music world and then have the musicianship to stay there, Simone Dinnerstein is certainly a pianists that you will want to listen to. After having heard this phenomenal pianist live, I know that her recording and interpretation of the Bach suite will stay in my favorites for quite some time.

The choice to hold the concert in Dohnanyi was a little sketchy in my opinion. Although all of the other instruments were amplified in some way, the drums seemed to take off a little too much acoustically in the environment. The bright sounds of the cymbals and snare shot upwards to the audience, whereas the same sounds in Opperman (a more traditional music hall) would’ve been more subdued. This acoustic finding puts another notch on my theory-of-what-type-of-performances-should-be-in-what-hall belt. 

That being said, any acoustic problems are basically unworthy of mention when the evening’s performance is brought to light. Instead of trying to describe it, I will upload a recording when it becomes available to me. Suffice it to say that these people know how to perform their shit, and they do it well. That concert was one of the most vibrant and intelligent performances that I have been to in a long time.