Description
J.S. Bach: French Suites Nos. 1 & 2, Italian Concerto, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue – Wolfgang Rübsam, Naxos (Piano CD)
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Product Details
- UPC: 4891030507098
- Catalogue Number: 8.550709
- Brand/Label: Naxos
- Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer: Wolfgang Rübsam, piano
- Release Year: 1994
- Genre: Classical – Piano/Baroque
- Country of Producing: [confirm] (no "Made in" line visible in the provided photos)
Product Features
- Format: Audio CD, DDD (fully digital recording), Stereo
- Total playing time: 55:24
- Cover artwork: Embarkation for Cythera, by Watteau (as credited on back cover)
Overview
This disc pairs Bach's two shortest, most compact French Suites with two of his most substantial standalone keyboard works, giving a fuller picture of what Bach could do in miniature and at full scale on the same instrument. The Italian Concerto is Bach writing a concerto for solo keyboard — outer hands imitating a ripieno orchestra, the slow movement a single unbroken aria-like line over accompaniment. The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue is the opposite kind of showpiece: dense, almost improvisatory chromatic writing that still ranks among the most harmonically adventurous things Bach wrote for keyboard. Against those two heavyweight pieces, French Suites Nos. 1 and 2 feel almost conversational — brief dance movements with none of the display of the Italian Concerto. Wolfgang Rübsam moves between the two idioms cleanly, giving the Fantasia real weight without over-pedaling and keeping the dance movements light. Recorded at Heidelberg's Clara Wieck Auditorium, this is a well-programmed introduction to four different faces of Bach's solo keyboard writing on one disc.
Interesting Facts
- The Italian Concerto, BWV 971, was Bach's attempt to recreate the sound of a full Italian concerto grosso using only a two-manual harpsichord (or, as here, piano) — no other instruments involved.
- The Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903, is considered one of Bach's most harmonically daring keyboard works, with a Fantasia that borders on free improvisation before resolving into a strict fugue.
- French Suite No. 1 is in D minor, making it the only minor-key suite among the first two of the set.
- This recording pairs two of Bach's smallest-scale keyboard suites with two of his largest standalone keyboard showpieces on a single disc.
- Wolfgang Rübsam recorded this alongside a companion Naxos disc of French Suites Nos. 3–6, together covering the complete set.
Track Listing
Italian Concerto, BWV 971
- (Allegro) – 4:04 · 2. Andante – 4:25 · 3. Presto – 3:53
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903
- Fantasia – 7:55 · 5. Fugue – 5:48
French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812
- Allemande – 4:21 · 7. Courante – 2:14 · 8. Sarabande – 2:28 · 9. Menuets I & II – 3:25 · 10. Gigue – 2:19
French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813
- Allemande – 3:36 · 12. Courante – 1:57 · 13. Sarabande – 2:54 · 14. Air – 1:24 · 15. Menuets I & II – 1:31 · 16. Gigue – 2:27
Publishers
Naxos, part of the Naxos Music Group. Recorded at the Clara Wieck Auditorium, Heidelberg. Distributed by MVD Music and Video Distribution GmbH, Unterhaching/Munich, Germany.
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