“Solo” Bach

Artists

La Ritirata

Pierre Hantaï, Diego Ares, Ignacio Prego and Daniel Oyarzabal, harpsichords

Josetxu Obregón, cello and artistic direction

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Concerto for two harpsichords in C major, BWV 1061

Concerto for two harpsichords in C minor, BWV 1060

Concerto for three harpsichords in D minor, BWV 1063

Concerto for three harpsichords in C major, BWV 1064

Concerto for four harpsichords in A minor, BWV 1065

Two Harpsichords, Three Harpsichords, Four Harpsichords

La Ritirata, the Madrid ensemble led by Josetxu Obregón, has managed to bring together up to four top-level harpsichordists: along with the great Pierre Hantaï, three of the greatest Spanish keyboardists today. The purpose being to approach the multiple concerts of Bach. It is well known that Bach devoted special attention to instrumental music at the time he was in the service of Prince Leopold at Cöthen (1717-1723), but few of his concertos have survived from that period. Luckily, when in 1729 he was chosen to conduct the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, Bach would recover many of those concertos, some of which he transcribed for harpsichord, and hence the survival of these memorable works of the art of entertainment. Indeed, that was the idea of the concerts, fun music for the famous sessions at the Café Zimmermann, and there Bach often arranged himself, but also took music from other masters, such as Vivaldi, whose monumental concerto for four violins from L’estro armonico was transformed into this equally brilliant concerto for four harpsichords that will close the recital.

Concert with no interval