Bach: French Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV812-817

Prego, Ignacio

C 9642.43

The roughly two dozen suites that Bach composed for keyboard instruments were written for private use of his students, and are predominantly French in style. The present French suites, which remained unpublished until long after his death, were composed after Bach's arrival to Cöthen, and the full collection was only completed by 1725, once he had moved to Leipzig. In the process, Bach repeatedly revised the French suites, shuffling certain works into and out of the set and altering a number of movements quite drastically. In the French suites Bach decided to say more with less, avoiding obvious virtuosity in favor of sublety and refinement, coming closer to what French composers like Couperin, whose music Bach knew well, called le bon goût. Cantus is very proud to publish this 2 CD set, masterfully performed by Ignacio Prego. He already appeared in a Cantus release as a member of ensemble La Ritirata in our DVD "Concierto Barroco", but now we can enjoy his amazing gifts as a soloist. Ignacio Prego achieves a perfect balance in his performance of Bach's French suites on revealing in a clear and luminous reading the internal architecture, the miraculous inner construction of this music, with its imitative counterpoint and characteristic armony, while adding freshness and elegance with his wonderful sense for ornamentation. In conclusion, we have one of the best versions of this music avalaible today: moving, elegant, with a clear musical direction, full of expressive nuances and perfectly well judged tempi...

This special 2 CD set for the price of one is presented in a beautiful double digipack with liner notes by David Schulenberg. The recording was done in a villa near Madrid, and benefits from a clear and warm sound engineering by Federico Prieto (Master Acoustics). No serious music lover can miss this…

Works:

• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV812
• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 2 in C minor, BWV813
• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV814
• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV815
• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816
• Bach, J S: French Suite No. 6 in E major, BWV817
• Bach, J S: French Suites Nos. 1-6, BWV812-817

CD x 2

Muzyka klasyczna

Cantus

04-05-2015

8424619696423