On the extremely rarely heard, sonorous Christian Zell harpsichord from 1741, Bob van Asperen makes it clear that Bach's art of the fugue is to...

On the extremely rarely heard, sonorous Christian Zell harpsichord from 1741, Bob van Asperen makes it clear that Bach's art of the fugue is to be met with the same joy of playing the harpsichord as other Bach keyboard works. For the duets, Asperen's former pupil Bernhard Klapprott, today also a sought-after keyboard virtuoso, joins in. The Dutch harpsichordist, organist, conductor, clavichordist and early music-specialist, Bob van Asperen, completed a conventional university course of study in music before embarking on lessons with harpsichord master Gustav Leonhardt starting in 1967. He made his debut in Haarlem in 1968. Also in 1968 he joined the group Quadro Hotteterre, of which he was a member until 1984. He completed his studies in 1972 “with distinction” after finishing a course in organ at the Amsterdam Conservatory given by Albert de Klerk. Currently he teaches at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.