New Classical Tracks  New Classical Tracks - Murray Perahia: A
Survey of Bach  by Valerie Kahler, Minnesota Public Radio August
23, 2011  St. Paul, Minn. — The name Bach means "brook" but a
more apt translation is "wellspring." There's not a composer or
classical performer who hasn't drawn from the wellspring. And in
Murray Perahia's case, those waters were literally healing.  In
the first half of his career, Perahia played and recorded
everything. Mendelssohn, Brahms, Liszt, Mozart, Bartok, and lots
of Chopin. And then something happened. A papercut that wouldn't
heal became a debilitating injury that left him unable to play.
Perahia said, "The doctors were giving me very bad news. I went
to quite a few who said there was no hope, but I didn't want to
believe that. I couldn't. At the time the only thing that gave
me some solace and some kind of purpose in life was Bach."
Eventually, surgery and physical therapy enabled him to start
playing again. During the time he was sidelined, he wasn't
playing Bach, mi