Bach on the modern piano at its best: warm and glowing but transparent playing of highest sophistication.

It was his professor, Alfred Brendel, who encouraged Till Fellner in the early nineties to intensify his work on polyphonic music as it seemed to suit his playing particularly well. The young pianist started by working on the two-part “Inventions” and three-part “Sinfonias” which epitomise the most crystalline keyboard polyphony by Bach. Designed as a manual not only for stylish playing but also for compositional invention and development, the pieces were composed in the early 1720s for Bach’s eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann.

Although Fellner had studied the works a good deal as a child he was fascinated by their artistic wealth: “There are dance-like pieces, to be sure, but the range extends all the way to Passion music: think of the ninth three-part piece in F minor. They even vary in their sound, in their "instrumentation" you might say. There are harpsichord-like pieces in the style of an old trio sonata for two solo instruments and accompaniment. Sometimes they sound like winds, sometimes like a small string ensemble.” They are the ultimate challenge for every Bach pianist: “Literally every note counts in these very short pieces; you have to find the right character from the very first phrase, otherwise it’s all over.”

The CD is completed by a delightful French suite. Fellner: “Manfred Eicher and I found it appealing to offset the fairly rigorous Inventions with a more loosely constructed piece, one that's a bit roomier and more fun to play.”

Till Fellner, born in Vienna, is a protégé of Alfred Brendel. His international career began in 1993 when he won the Clara Haskil Competition. Since then he has performed with leading orchestras, in the great capitals of Europe, Japan, and the United States, and at major festivals. He has worked with conductors of the stature of Abbado, Ashkenazy, von Dohnányi, Harnoncourt, Mackerras, Masur and Welser-Möst. He also plays regularly in a trio with Lisa Batiashvili and Adrian Brendel and works closely with the tenor Mark Padmore.