Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord & Strings, Vol. 1 Bach Collegium Japan & Masato Suzuki

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052:
• 1 Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro 07:19
• 2 Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: II. Adagio 06:19
• 3 Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: III. Allegro 07:44
• Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056:
• 4 Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: I. Allegro 03:09
• 5 Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Largo 02:32
• 6 Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto 03:28
• Harpsichord Concerto No. 8 in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. M. Suzuki):
• 7 Harpsichord Concerto No. 8 in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. M. Suzuki): I. Allegro 06:13
• 8 Harpsichord Concerto No. 8 in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. M. Suzuki): II. Siciliano 06:05
• 9 Harpsichord Concerto No. 8 in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. M. Suzuki): III. Presto 03:18
• Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053:
• 10 Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053: I. Allegro 08:01
• 11 Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053: II. Siciliano 04:30
• 12 Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053: III. Allegro 06:24
• Total Runtime 01:05:02

Info zu Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord & Strings, Vol. 1

The extant concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach for one harpsichord and strings were all composed before 1738, which makes them some of the first, if not the first keyboard concertos – a genre destined to become one of the most popular within classical music. In all likelihood Bach wrote them for his own use (or that of his talented sons) – probably to be performed with Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum of which he had taken over as director in 1729. The fresh and exuberant character one finds in the concertos seems to reflect how much Bach enjoyed the opportunity to engage with his fellow musicians. But much of the music itself was in fact not new – despite how idiomatic they may sound, many of Bach’s harpsichord concertos are almost certainly transcriptions of earlier works written for other instruments. Some of these original works are no longer extant, but it is nevertheless possible to trace the ancestry of BWV 1052 and the outer movements of BWV 1056 to lost violin concertos, while BWV 1053 is a reworking of three cantata movements which in turn probably hailed from a lost organ concerto. A similar case is BWV 1059, which is known to us in a nine-bar fragment in Bach’s original score. But an earlier version of the piece – a concerto for organ – has survived in the form of three movements of Cantata No. 35, Geist und Seele wird verwirret, and these have served as basis for Masato Suzuki's reconstruction of the work included on the present album. It is also Masato Suzuki who performs the solo parts, while directing his colleagues in Bach Collegium Japan.

Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

Masaaki Suzuki
Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. He has remained their Music Director ever since, taking them regularly to major venues and festivals in Europe and the USA and building up an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of his performances. In addition to working with renowned period ensembles, such as Collegium Vocale Gent and Philharmonia Baroque, he is invited to conduct modern instrument orchestras in repertoire as diverse as Britten, Fauré, Haydn, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Stravinsky. Last season saw his debut appearances with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Melbourne Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, while engagements for 2012/2013 include return visits to the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Verbier Festival and his debuts with the New York Philharmonic and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart.

Suzuki’s impressive discography on the BIS label, featuring Bach’s complete works for harpsichord and his interpretations of Bach’s major choral works and sacred cantatas with Bach Collegium Japan (of which he has already completed over fifty volumes of a project to record the complete series) have brought him many critical plaudits – the Times has written: “it would take an iron bar not to be moved by his crispness, sobriety and spiritual vigour”. In 2010, Suzuki and his ensemble were awarded both a German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) and a Diapason d’Or de l’Année for their recording of Bach motets, which was also honoured in 2011 with a BBC Music Magazine Award.

Highlights of last season with Bach Collegium Japan included a European tour incorporating concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts and Paris Salle Pleyel amongst others, and culminating with a performance of the St Matthew Passion at the Thomaskirche, Leipzig where Suzuki was presented with the 2012 Leipzig Bach Prize. This season sees the group in residence at the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht and Bremen Musikfest.

Masaaki Suzuki combines his conducting career with his work as organist and harpsichordist. Born in Kobe, he graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music with a degree in composition and organ performance and went on to study harpsichord and organ at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam under Ton Koopman and Piet Kee. Founder and head of the early music department at the Tokyo University of the Arts, he is currently Visiting Professor of Choral Conducting at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum.

Suzuki was decorated with ‘Das Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik’ from Germany in April 2001, Bremen Musikfest Award 2011, and Bach Medal 2012 by the city of Leipzig in June 2012.

Bach Collegium Japan
was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki, its inspirational Music Director, with the aim of introducing Japanese audiences to period instrument performances of great works from the baroque period. Comprised of both baroque orchestra and chorus, their activities include an annual concert series of Bach’s cantatas and a number of instrumental programmes.

They have acquired a formidable international reputation through their acclaimed recordings of the major choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the BIS label; this season sees the triumphant conclusion of their recorded cycle of the complete Church Cantatas, a huge undertaking comprising over fifty CDs initiated in 1995. Their recent recording of Bach Motets was honoured with a German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2010 and also in 2011 with a BBC Music Magazine Award.

Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki have shared their interpretations across the international music scene with performances in venues as far afield as Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York and Seoul, and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

In 2010 the ensemble celebrated their 20th anniversary with a series of special concerts in Tokyo, and last season included performances at the Musikfest Bremen as well as appearances at New York’s Lincoln Center where Masaaki Suzuki and the choir were invited to collaborate with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to open its Bach Variations Festival. This season they undertake their first visit to the New Zealand International Arts Festival and embark upon another major European tour during which they bring Bach’s St John Passion and a Cantata programme to cities such as Barcelona, Lyon, Paris and Toulouse.

Booklet für Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord & Strings, Vol. 1