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James Ehnes on Bach
6th May 2025by Katherine Cooper
The violinist discusses his new recording of a selection of Bach concertos with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra - an organisation which 'played a pivotal part' in his early life through tours, radio broadcasts and competitions for young artists.
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Nevermind Ensemble on recasting Bach's Goldberg Variations
5th Mar 2025by David Smith
The quartet talk about their new recording of the immortal Goldberg Variations, seamlessly adapted for flute, violin, gamba and continuo.
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A new Bach cantata project from Les Arts Florissants
5th Apr 2024by David Smith
Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants kick off a new project aimed at retracing the steps of Bach's life - focusing on his early work in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, still barely out of his teens.
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Rachel Podger and Chad Kelly on reimagining Bach's Goldberg Variations
4th Dec 2023by David Smith
The violinist and composer share their thoughts on adapting Bach's immortal set of keyboard variations for Baroque instrumental ensemble.
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A slow-brewed Goldberg Variations from Víkingur Ólafsson
6th Oct 2023by David Smith
The Icelandic pianist presents the results of twenty-five years of thoughtful preparation, in a recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations that combines control and spontaneity, limpid gentleness and furious virtuosic energy.
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Well-tempered Bach on the clavichord from András Schiff
27th Jan 2023by David Smith
An oft-neglected early keyboard instrument finally gets its moment in the sun in an intimate programme of Bach that plays to its strengths, built around the two-part and three-part inventions.
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Francesco Corti on Bach
10th Aug 2022by Katherine Cooper
The harpsichordist and conductor talks about the pleasures and challenges of reconstructing a harpsichord concerto from a single page of music - and how Bach's resourcefulness resonates with his own 'very Italian common-sense practical side!'.
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Adapted and reconstructed Bach concertos from Francesco Corti and Il Pomo d'Oro
22nd Jul 2022by David Smith
Francesco Corti continues his series of Bach harpsichord concerto recordings with an album of double concertos - including his own collaborative reconstruction with Francesco Zimei of a tantalising fragment.
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Bach's St Matthew Passion from Raphaël Pichon
15th Apr 2022by David Smith
Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion ensemble present a vision of Bach's masterwork that aims for clarity and immediacy over exhaustingly intense theatrics.
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JS Bach: Matthäus-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Stéphane Degout (Christus), Sabine Devieilhe & Hana Blažiková (sopranos), Lucile Richardot (mezzo), Tim Mead (countertenor), Reinoud Van Mechelen & Emiliano Gonzalez Toro (tenors), Christian Immler (bass-baritone) Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
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Ana de la Vega on Bach Unbuttoned
6th May 2021by David Smith
The Australian flautist talks about her new album of new perspectives on Bach, inspired by an intriguing detail on one of the most famous statues erected to him.
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Emmanuel Despax on Spira, Spera
25th Feb 2021by David Smith
The pianist talks about his new album of Bach transcriptions, inspired in part by his personal reaction to the Notre-Dame de Paris fire of 2019.
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Parker Ramsay on Bach's Goldberg Variations
29th Sep 2020by David Smith
The harpist talks about his new album, on which he performs his own arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
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Lang Lang on Bach's Goldberg Variations
9th Sep 2020by David Smith
The superstar Chinese pianist talks about his new double recording of Bach's keyboard masterwork, and about his approach to preparing and performing Baroque repertoire.
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Sean Shibe on Bach
18th Jun 2020by Katherine Cooper
The eloquent young Scottish guitarist talks to Katherine about his third solo album on Delphian, Pour La Luth Ò Cembal, which was recently described by The Times as 'masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way'.
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Sean Shibe plays Bach Lute Suites
22nd May 2020by David Smith
The award-winning young Scottish guitarist's third solo album on Delphian sees him turn to the music of JS Bach, with a highly varied triple-bill of suites for solo lute.
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The Well-Tempered Consort
4th Feb 2020by David Smith
Phantasm's founder, director and violist Laurence Dreyfus talks to David about the consort's new disc, exploring the polyphonic keyboard works of JS Bach in new arrangements for viols.
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Jonathan Sells on Christmas in Leipzig
25th Nov 2019by David Smith
Jonathan Sells, artistic director of the British early music ensemble Solomon's Knot, talks to David about their début recording, featuring three consecutive musical directors at the Leipzig Thomaskirche - Johann Schelle, Johann Kuhnau and, of course, Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Kati Debretzeni on Bach's Violin Concertos
11th Nov 2019by David Smith
Violinist Kati Debretzeni talks to David about her new recording of Bach violin concertos - originals and adaptations - with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists.
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Antoine Tamestit on Bach
27th Aug 2019by David Smith
The viola-player talks to David about his recording of the three gamba sonatas on Stradivari’s ‘Gustav Mahler’ viola from 1672 - one of only thirteen extant violas by the legendary Cremonese luthier.
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Mahan Esfahani plays Bach Toccatas
2nd Aug 2019by David Smith
David enjoys Mahan Esfahani's exhilarating recording of Bach's seven keyboard toccatas, BWV910-916.