Album review: David Fray, Bach: Partitas Nos 2 & 6, Toccata BWV 911 (Virgin Classics)

The young French pianist David Fray is often likened to Glenn Gould, but it's not just the flamboyance of his style that links him to the Canadian genius.

You can tell right from the opening notes of the "Partita No 2" that, as with Gould, every single keystroke has been painstakingly analysed, weighed and considered before Fray executes it – though judging by the sweep and flow of these performances, it's unlikely they were subject to the kind of finicky editing favoured by Gould. This is partly confirmed by the internal pulsing rhythm of the "Toccata BWV 911", which has a lovely dancing quality even in its more sober moments, its perfectly co-ordinated, prancing lines the musical equivalent of dressage.

Download: Partitas No 2; Partita No 6; Toccata BWV 911