Bach: the Complete Works For Keyboard 4: Alla Veneziana

Benjamin Alard (Silbermann-Orgel Abbaye Saint-Etienne Marmoutier; Mattia de Grand-Cembalo; Philippe Humeau-Pedalcembalo)

Met dit 4e deel van een complete opname waarvan de grote originaliteit unaniem door de critici is geprezen (o.a. Gramophone, juli 2020), wendt Benjamin Alard zich opnieuw tot Bachs eerste meesterschap in zijn Weimar-periode. Na 'Op Franse wijze' volgt nu een verhuizing naar Italië, waar de Venetiaan Vivaldi de toon zet met zijn concerti. Hier schept de jonge Bach een prachtige vrije ruimte tussen transcriptie en improvisatie. "Het arrangement heeft te maken met vrijheid, het is ook onderworpen aan de creatieve verbeelding: elk stuk van deze opname voert ons mee naar de wereld van Venetië, die Bach fascineerde en inspireerde" en die Benjamin Alard hoorbaar maakt op drie uitzonderlijke instrumenten - waaronder een prachtig klavecimbel van Mattia De Gandaus uit 1702, gerestaureerd en bewaard in Treviso.

With this volume 4 in a complete recording of Bach’s keyboard works whose ingenuity has been underlined by every reviewer (e.g. Gramophone, July 2020), Benjamin Alard continues to explore the Weimar period, known as that of his ‘early mastery’. After À la française, we turn to Italy, where the Vivaldian concerto reigned in Venice. The young Bach created here a wonderful space of freedom between the transcriber and the improviser. For ‘if transcription is a matter of freedom, it is also a matter of powerful imagination: each piece on this recording transports us into a Venetian universe that fascinated Bach as much as it inspired him’, as Benjamin Alard demonstrates on three exceptional instruments, including a magnificent 1702 harpsichord by Mattia De Gand, preserved in Treviso and recently restored.

Bach, J S:
 Chorale Prelude BWV694 'Wo soll ich fliehen hin'
 Chorale Prelude BWV736 'Valet will ich dir geben'
 Fantasia & Fugue in A minor, BWV944
 Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele, BWV Anh. 52
 Jesu, meine Freude, BWV Anh.II/58
 Keyboard Concerto in B minor (after Torelli), BWV 979
 Keyboard Concerto in C major (after Vivaldi), BWV976
 Keyboard Concerto in D major (after Vivaldi), BWV972
 Keyboard Concerto in D minor (after Marcello), BWV974
 Keyboard Concerto in F major (after Vivaldi), BWV978
 Keyboard Concerto in G major (after Vivaldi), BWV973
 Keyboard Concerto in G major (after Vivaldi), BWV980
 Keyboard Concerto in G minor (after Vivaldi), BWV975
 Organ Concerto in A minor (after Vivaldi), BWV593
 Organ Concerto in C major (after Vivaldi), BWV594
 Organ Concerto in D minor (after Vivaldi), BWV596
 Organ Concerto in G major (after Johann Ernst), BWV592
 Prelude & Fugue in A minor, BWV894
 Prelude & Fugue in G minor, BWV535
 Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C major, BWV564
 Trio in D minor, BWV583
 Trio super 'Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr', BWV664
 Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her, BWV Anh. 65
 Wir glauben all an einen Gott, BWV Anh. 69

CD van de Week - Radio 4

"The richness of his embellishments to the solo oboe line in the Marcello suggests a kind of aural substitute for vibrato, giving the melodic line a shimmering, quavering, vocal-like intensity…This is charismatic music; and if it isn’t played more often that is likely due only to the vestigial remnants of the mid-20th century’s prejudice against transcription."
Gramophone Magazine - March 2021