• Ishizaka plays the 24 preludes and fugues with impeccable taste and technique
    Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone Magazine
  • A brilliant performance and brilliant set all around!
    Robert Cummings, Classical.net
  • The Well-Tempered Clavier, with the notes, for those who truly love music.
  • A gifted and obviously devoted Bachian
    James Oestreich, New York Times
  • I have never heard "Book 1" done better. You hear Bach with new ears.
    Grego Applegate Edwards
Campbell Vertesi, The Cast, March 20, 2015

Campbell Vertesi, singer, pianist, and entrepreneur, took interest in Kimiko Ishizaka's recording of "The Well-Tempered Clavier" as much from the social standpoint as from the musical standpoint, noting that Most people are familiar with the concept of open source in computers: an online community collaborates to build software that is available to everyone for free, to use and modify as they like. But how does that translate into music? And isn't everything free only worth what you paid for it?.

The recording, however, soon became the focus of his attention: The first thing you need to know about this recording, is to try and clear out any distractions before you even start. Kimiko's playing demands your complete attention; it forces you to sit down and just listen with every ounce of your focus. He found the C# Minor Fugue particularly engaging: The combination of emotion and structure builds to a fantastic climax at the end of the Fugue, when I found myself pumping my fist and cheering out loud.

He goes on to single out the "rock star" quality of the E-Minor Prelude: A great example of this balance is in Prelude 10, which I'm used to hearing played as a facile excercise. Kimiko's performance starts from a playful reading of the opening theme, and transitions into a simply amazing Presto that is so "rock star", it might as well be concluded by smashing a guitar and biting the head off a bat.

http://thecastmusic.com/blog/kimiko-ishizakas-open-well-tempered-klavier