Bach Harpsichord Concertos

This collection was first compiled in 1970 or so from recordings dating as far back as 1961. The set, now remastered and issued on cd, includes performances by three generations of harpsichordists, with Gustav Leonhardt providing the central focus. Leonhardt includes (in BWV 1060, 1062 and 1065) his former teacher from the Schola Cantorum in Basle, Eduard Mueller (the student modestly playing second harpsichord to his mentor in 1060 and 1065) while his own first-generation students Anneke Uittenbosch and Alan Curtis join him for BWV 1061, 1063-1065.

“JS Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord & strings, occupy a significant place in the history of music, marking as they do the origin of the keyboard concerto genre. Collectively, they encompass the gamut of Baroque rhetorical expression; indeed, leaving aside the six ground- breaking ‘Brandenburg’ Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, it is difficult to think of a more diverse, revolutionary and technically refined set of instrumental concertos from the Baroque period” - Andrew Arthur

Composer: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Performer: Claudio Astronio, Marco Facchin
Conductor: Claudio Astronio
Orchestra/Ensemble: Harmonices Mundi String Ensemble

“JS Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord & strings, BWV 1052-1058, occupy a significant place in the history of music, marking as they do the origin of the keyboard concerto genre. Collectively, they encompass the gamut of Baroque rhetorical expression; indeed, leaving aside the six ground-breaking ‘Brandenburg’ Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, it is difficult to think of a more diverse, revolutionary and technically refined set of instrumental concertos from the Baroque period” – Andrew Arthur