Bach Sonatas BWV 1027-1029, Pärt: Spiegel Im Spiegel Annette Bartholdy & Benjamin Engeli

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027:
• 1Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027: I. Adagio (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:47
• 2Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027: II. Allegro ma non tanto (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:25
• 3Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027: III. Andante (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)02:16
• 4Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027: IV. Allegro moderato (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:01
• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): Spiegel im Spiegel (Version for Viola and Piano):
• 5Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel (Version for Viola and Piano)09:34
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor, BWV 1029:
• 6Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor, BWV 1029: I. Vivace (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)04:45
• 7Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor, BWV 1029: II. Adagio (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)05:13
• 8Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor, BWV 1029: III. Allegro (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:33
• Arvo Pärt: Fratres (Version for Viola and Piano):
• 9Pärt: Fratres (Version for Viola and Piano)09:24
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028:
• 10Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: I. Adagio (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)01:49
• 11Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: II. Allegro (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:26
• 12Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: III. Andante (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)04:01
• 13Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: IV. Allegro (Arr. for Viola and Piano by Ernst-Günter Heinemann)03:46
• Total Runtime58:00

Info for Bach Sonatas BWV 1027-1029, Pärt: Spiegel Im Spiegel

Bach's gamba sonatas have been played on a wide variety of instruments over the course of time - just like the two pieces Spiegel im Spiegel and Fratres by Arvo Pärt. Apart from the contrast that the two composers represent simply because of their different eras, however, the changeability of the pieces is not the only thing they have in common: both Bach and Pärt always have a spiritual statement at their core. This was the central point for violist Annette Bartholdy and her piano accompanist Benjamin Engeli in the conception of their current album.

Annette Bartholdy, viola
Benjamin Engeli, piano

Annette Bartholdy
is one of the most sought after violists of the young generation. Born in Berne, Switzerland, she is a winner of many national and international competitions and awards (“Schweizer Jugend Musikwettbewerb”, study awards from the “Schweizerische Tonkünstler Verein”, “Orpheus Förderungspreis”, Pro Musicis International Award). Annette Bartholdy has worked with masters such as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Andras Schiff and has appeared as a soloist with leading European ensembles such as the European Camerata.

During her studies in Switzerland she took part in numerous master classes with internationally renowned names such as Yuri Bashmet (Isle of Man, England), Dorothy DeLay (Aspen, USA), Zachar Bron (Wiesbaden, Germany) and Paul Neubauer (Juilliard School, New York). She finished her studies at the Basle Music Academy “with maximum distinction”.

Annette Bartholdy is a passionate chamber musician. She has been invited to festivals all over the world: to Bath and Prussia Cove (England), Davos and Lucerne (Switzerland), Warzaw (Poland), Elverum (Norway), Versailles and La Prée (France) and to Perth (Australia). Since 2000 Annette Bartholdy has been playing as a duo with the English pianist Julius Drake. It was with him that she gave her London Wigmore Hall début. Her Bach-Shostakovich recital was hailed as a great success by the public and the press alike: “music-making of rare intensity” and “one leaves such a concert with a great sense of gratitude – something words can’t capture” (Martin Anderson).

Her edition of the Shostakovich Cello Sonata in the version for viola and piano was published by Boosey&Hawkes and a CD of Shostakovich’s Viola and Cello Sonatas appeared on the label Naxos. The critics are full of praise: “effortlessly beautifully playing” and “the recording from Yuri Bashmet is generally considered to be the finest but this searching and compelling Naxos recording is more than its equal” (Michael Cookson). For the centenary of Dimitri Shostakovich’s birth in 2006, Annette Bartholdy was invited to take part in the film “The Unknown Shostakovich” in which she interprets Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata together with Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Annette Bartholdy is artistic director of the concert series “Vier Jahreszeiten”, which she founded in 2005, in Meilen at Lake Zurich, where she lives with her family. Within a short time the concert series made a name for itself for chamber music concerts at the highest level.

This album contains no booklet.