Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord, Vol. 2 / Masato Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan
BIS

Bach: Concertos for Harpsichord, Vol. 2 / Masato Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

$21.99

Details

Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
Artist
Masato Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Masato Suzuki
Format
SACD
Label
BIS
Released
Jul 01, 2022
Catalog #
BIS-2481
UPC
7318599924816

About

The concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach for solo harpsichord and strings are some of the earliest, if not the very first, keyboard concertos. 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. The concertos’ fresh and exuberant character reflects how much Bach enjoyed the opportunity to engage with his fellow musicians, a quality that also came across on Masato Suzuki’s first installment of Bach's harpsichord concertos together with his colleagues in Bach Collegium Japan: ‘sparkling performances... [Suzuki’s] remarkable virtuosity is beautifully projected by BIS’s excellent SACD recording’ (MusicWeb-International). Despite how idiomatic they may sound, many of Bach’s harpsichord concertos are almost certainly transcriptions of earlier works written for other instruments. Of the works presented on this second volume, BWV 1054 and BWV 1058 are adaptations of violin concertos composed while the composer was living in Cöthen. The model for BWV 1055 has been lost but it is believed to be a concerto for oboe or viola d’amore. BWV 1057, finally, is an adaptation of the well-known Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, transposed down one step but retaining the original’s two recorders. As examples of musical recycling, these works display Bach’s uncanny ability to re-use successful music ideas and give them a new meaning and significance.

REVIEWS:

Masato Suzuki proves an ideal keyboard soloist, balancing moments of zestful virtuosity with some elegant inequality in the passagework. Willem Kroesbergen’s copy of a contemporary Couchet harpsichord on which he plays is characterful with a pleasing range of timbre; and throughout, in these well-recorded performances, it blends attractively with the other instruments.

Nearly all Bach’s harpsichord concertos are arrangements of earlier works composed for entertainments in the relaxed environment of Gottfried Zimmermann’s Leipzig coffee house and garden where they were directed by the composer, presumably with a number of his sons as soloists. Two of the concertos recorded here are versions of Bach’s two familiar violin concertos, a third is of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, and the charming A major concerto derives from a concerto for oboe d’amore.

Unsurprisingly, with its appropriately modest orchestral forces, the Bach Collegium Japan goes in for brisk tempos, but without any sense of rushing or impatience. A prime example is the first movement of the D major Concerto, with carefully considered phrasing and excellent timing from the orchestra matched by dazzling harpsichord solo playing.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 I. — 07:03
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    07:03
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  2. 2 II. Andante 03:45
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Andante
    Duration
    03:45
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  3. 3 III. Allegro assai 05:00
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Allegro assai
    Duration
    05:00
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  4. 4 I. Allegro 04:21
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    04:21
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  5. 5 II. Larghetto 04:50
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Larghetto
    Duration
    04:50
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  6. 6 III. Allegro ma non tanto 04:19
    Track
    6
    Title
    III. Allegro ma non tanto
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  7. 7 I. — 03:45
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    03:45
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  8. 8 II. Andante 06:11
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Andante
    Duration
    06:11
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  9. 9 III. Allegro assai 03:36
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Allegro assai
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  10. 10 I. — 07:21
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. —
    Duration
    07:21
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  11. 11 II. Adagio e piano sempre 05:25
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Adagio e piano sempre
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki
  12. 12 III. Allegro 02:48
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    02:48
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Masato Suzuki
    Ensemble
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Conductor
    Masato Suzuki