Bach in Montecassino Luca Guglielmi

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750):
• 1 Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903: Fantasia 05:28
• 2 Fuga sopra il Magnificat, BWV 733 (Meine Seele erhebet den Herren): Meine Seele erhebet den Herren (Fuge uber das Magnificat), BWV 733 04:30
• 3 4 Duets: Duet No. 1 in E Minor, BWV 802 02:51
• 4 4 Duets: Duet No. 2 in F Major, BWV 803 03:08
• 5 4 Duets: Duet No. 3 in G Major, BWV 804 03:26
• 6 4 Duets: Duet No. 4 in A Minor, BWV 805 02:38
• 7 Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 537: Fantasia 03:32
• 8 Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 753 02:13
• 9 Fantasia super Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 713 05:13
• 10 18 Chorales, BWV 651-668, "Leipziger Chorale": Wenn wir in hochsten Noten sein, BWV 668a 04:30
• 11 The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, BWV 870-893: Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 870b 02:46
• 12 Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit, BWV 672 01:33
• 13 Christe, aller Welt Trost, BWV 673 01:18
• 14 Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist, BWV 674 01:33
• 15 Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr, BWV 675 03:31
• 16 Fughetta super Wir glauben all an einen Gott, BWV 681 01:11
• 17 Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 683 01:34
• 18 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 687 04:51
• 19 The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 846-869: Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 02:15
• 20 Fantasia 04:39
• 21 Fantasia & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 904: Fugue 05:30
• Total Runtime 01:08:10

Info for Bach in Montecassino

In a church in a quiet northern Italian town survives a hidden jewel: an organ dating from 1749 which is perfect for Bach’s music. In this recording, renowned Italian organist Luca Guglielmi presents a fine sequence of some of Bach’s finest keyboard works, played on the historic organ in the Chiesa di San Nicolao, Alice Castello.

The programme is compiled from works by Bach collected by two eighteenth century scholars, Padre Martini and Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, which would surely have been performed in the famous Abbey of Montecassino, a magnet for musical travellers on ‘The Grand Tour’. Martini and Rust played a major role in the creation of the first collected edition of Bach’s works. Guglielmi’s neatly-structured programme includes the brilliant Fantasia Chromatica, the solemn Fuga sopra il Magnificat, the fine Fantasia pro Organo in C minor and the great Fantasia & Fuga pro Organo, as well as Preludes and Fantasias, Duetti from the Clavierübung and seven Chorales for the Catechism, all demonstrating the vivid colours of this remarkable instrument.

Extensive presentation includes 44 page booklet with notes in four languages (English, Italian, French & German), illustrations and session photographs, as well as comprehensive details of this unique eighteenth century organ.

“Ringingly confident” (The Observer)

“Terrific playing … a first-rate Bach recital” (The Classical Reviewer)

Luca Guglielmi, organ

Luca Guglielmi
(Turin, Italy, 1977) is renowned for his historically informed interpretations of music of all periods, his wide repertoire and his strong commitment into the study and application of phenomenology of music. He has a great passion for incorporating period style within the traditional orchestral world and creating distinctive and dynamic programs. Luca Guglielmi has a wide repertoire, from Gesualdo to Strawinsky, conducting orchestras and ensembles such as: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Orfeus Barockensemble, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, Orchestra Milano Classica, Arsys Bourgogne, Coro di Torino della RAI, Cappella Musicale di Santa Maria dei Servi di Bologna.

In opera, he has been assistant to conductors such as: Antoni Ros-Marbà, Victor Pablo-Perez, Gottfried von der Goltz, Giovanni Antonini, Jordi Savall for works from Monteverdi to Mozart, working in famous opera houses like: Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Teatro Real (Madrid), Teatro Regio (Turin), Styriarte Festival (Graz).

Composer of notable talent, he studied at the Turin's Conservatorio under Alessandro Ruo Rui. He has composed several works for mixed a cappella choir, a format he favours; his compositions have been performed in Italy and abroad by the Turin Vocalensemble (dir. Carlo Pavese), by the Coro Filarmonico “Ruggero Maghini” and by the St Jacobs Chamber Choir (dir. Gary Graden).

The most recent highlight has been a last minute replacement of renowned conductor Reinhard Goebel with Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and soprano Roberta Mameli, for a concert in the famous Basilica del Santo in Padua (Italy).

Concurrently, from 1993 Luca Guglielmi has had a busy international career as a soloist of historical keyboards (harpsichord, organ, clavichord, fortepiano), choir master and leader of various ensembles "with original instruments". Honourable Mention at the XII International Organ Competition in Bruges, he studied harpsichord with Ton Koopman and Patrizia Marisaldi, organ with Vittorio Bonotto, renaissance counterpoint and historic composition with Sergio Pasteris. For nearly twenty years Luca has been the assistant and continuo player of Jordi Savall and his ensembles Hesperion XXI, Le Concert des Nations and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, giving concerts, from the duo to the large ensemble, all over the world. He has collaborated with artists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Sara Mingardo, Barbara Bonney, Philippe Jarrousky, Giuliano Carmignola, Paolo Pandolfo, Ottavio Dantone, Gabriele Cassone, Paul O'Dette, Katia and Marielle Labéque and ensembles like Il Giardino Armonico, Ensemble Zefiro, Ensemble La Fenice, The Rare Fruits Council, Freiburger Barockorchester, RAI Turin Orchestra (under Jeffrey Tate, Roberto Abbado, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos).

Luca Guglielmi has a wide discography of more than 50 CDs, among them 18 solo titles devoted to a repertoire from Frescobaldi to Mozart, for such labels as: Accent, cpo, Vivat, Hänssler Classics, Stradivarius and Elegia. His recordings of Bach's Goldberg Variations and Pasquini's Sonate da gravecembalo have been awarded with the "Diapason d'or"; his last organ recording Bach in Montecassino, for the English label Vivat, received an "Editor's Choice" from the Gramophone magazine.

Luca Guglielmi's dedication to educational projects has led him to teach in several summer early music courses and master classes in Italy (Pamparato and Urbino), France (Barbaste) and Spain (San Feliu de Guixols), basing his teaching exclusively on original treatises and other historical sources. From 2013 he is professor of harpsichord, fortepiano and chamber music at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya (ESMuC), Barcelona.

Booklet for Bach in Montecassino