Following the 2024 release of a recomposition for two pianos of JS Bach’s 15 two-part inventions, pianists Chiahu Lee and Yulia Vershinina-Mukhopadhyay return with a set of arrangements of Bach’s piano music for four hands. The pair have been friends since their early studies at the Royal Northern College of Music – and it’s clear this album, like their earlier (ré)inventions à deux pianos, is driven by their friendship and collaboration.

‘To rehearse, record, and simply meet at the same instrument has become more complicated than before. Living in different cities, and depending on the availability of two pianos, made the logistics of rehearsing and performing increasingly difficult.’ So often, constraints spark creativity, and that’s certainly the driving force for this duo. Images of board games peppered throughout the cover booklet hint at their playful creativity, which is heard here at the keyboard.

Chiahu Lee found herself drawn to the intimacy of György Kurtág’s transcription of Bach’s Cantata, ‘Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit’, an arrangement brought into focus recently by Víkingur Ólafsson with his acclaimed Bach Reworks album. That piece opens with Cantata (remixed), alongside six new four-hand reimaginings of other Bach cantatas arranged by Lee.

A natural symbiosis underpins the partnership, with comfortable voicing throughout and, for the most part, an interpretation well matched in terms of tone and attack. ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’ feels a little cautious and could be more cohesive, but the playing is otherwise secure. In performance, the transcriptions are most effective when concentrated in the centre of the piano, the textures thicker and more tightly woven.