Johann Sebastian Bach

This rather special disc showcases both the high summer of the Italian Baroque style and the early spring of an extraordinary performer of our own time.

In writing his violin concertos, Bach learnt from his predecessors and contemporaries both home and away, no less than he did in the other genres he perfected. This is one of his most enduring qualities – one shared by Stravinsky in particular – to listen and read and learn wherever he could, take what he found, and turn it on the lathe of his own genius. So he made sure to study the concertos of his Venetian predecessor, who was famous even in his own time for the easy mastery of the concerto grosso style that allowed full licence to the brilliance of a solo performer while always staying within the bounds of accessibly structured forms and deftly shaped, memorable melodies. Dialogue, of an almost operatic kind, was prized. Bach took all of this, and, especially in his E major Concerto, one of his most extensive essays in the genre, imbued it with a new seriousness of purpose and intensity of expression. The slow movement of the Concerto for two violins is a still point in a turning world, and has touched the hearts of millions since Adolf Busch and Yehudi Menuhin made their pioneering recording in the 1930s.

Menuhin was one of those who, early on, recognised the distinctive talent of the Japanese violinist Midori (b.1971); this is among her first recordings.

Enjoy the intimacy and virtuosity of the debut recording by Russian violinist Stanislav (Stass) Pronin. This engaging new release of solo violin works truly exposes the world to this exciting new talent.

Pronin also exhibits his concentration and prowess by performing both parts on the Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins.

Despite his young age, Stanislav Pronin has already established himself as one of the most brilliant violinists of his generation.

Born in Moscow, Mr. Pronin can trace his musical lineage to the great school of Odessa trained violinists. His first teacher was his grandfather, Veniamin Pronin, who was a professor of violin at the Odessa Conservatory and a pupil of the renowned pedagogue Pyotr Stoliarsky, teacher of David Oistrakh and Nathan Milstein. Among his grandfather’s close friends and colleagues were violinist Leonid Kogan, pianist Emil Gilels and the great Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich.

Mr. Pronin maintains a busy performance and recording schedule. His performances range from solos with orchestras to solo and chamber recitals worldwide. He has performed in many music festivals and concert venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Miller Theatre in New York City, Dekelboum Hall in Washington, D.C., the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, Rathaussaal Forchheim in Nuremberg, Germany, the Perlman Theatre in Philadelphia and many others. He has frequently performed on television and radio in the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel, including live broadcasts of the Interlochen Public Radio Station and the WFMT Chicago Classical Radio station. He has performed under the baton of many eminent conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Ronald Zollman, Sigiswald Kuijken, John Adams and Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Pronin is also an avid chamber musician, and has engaged in chamber music with internationally-renowned musicians such as Jaime Laredo, James Campbell, Mark Kaplan, Orion String Quartet, Victor Danchenko, Anton Nel, Julian Milkis, Emille Naoumoff and Lera Auerbach.

Mr. Pronin is the recipient of multiple awards from the American String Teachers Association, America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts and Classical Artists Development Foundation. He performs on a Nicola Bergonzi violin from 1785, and the ex-Ysaÿe, ex-Flesch Voirin bow, generously on loan from a private sponsor from Michigan.

It had been almost four year since Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous music director of Leipzig, hadn’t had a new work published. In 1731, it had been the Sixth Partita, which had put an end to a collection published year after year and published this time in one complete edition, under the title Clavier Übung, opus I.

Clavier Übung, meaning keyboard practice or Keyboard Book as it was commonly referred to. A second part to the Clavier Übung is announced, a second Keyboard Book.

Its title is in fact very explicit: Second part of the Clavier Übung, comprising a Concerto after the Italian Taste and an Overture after the French Manner for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for music lovers, to refresh their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, and for our greatest pleasure at the virtuoso hands of Benjamin Alard. « A master stroke » (L’Express, about the first volume).

On this new two-channel SACD, the award- winning Libyan born pianist Abdel Rahman el Bacha brings fresh insight to the first 24 of J S Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues known as “The Well-Tempered Clavier”. Born in Beirut in 1958 Abdel Rahman el Bacha moved to France at the age of 16 to study at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1978, when only 19, he won the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Piano Competition by a unanimous judgment. In 1983, his first recording for the label Forlane, ‘Early Works by Prokofiev’, was awarded the "Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros". For the same label he has recorded three Concertos by Bach, both of Ravel's Concertos, and works by Schumann, Ravel and Schubert. Alongside a series of critically acclaimed recordings of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven, he has also released Chopin's complete solo piano works in chronological order over 12 CDs. The two volumes of piano pieces known as The Well-Tempered Clavier were originally written by J.S. Bach for use in the teaching of keyboard playing and composition, and were not printed in full until more than half a century after the composer’s death. The music has over the centuries influenced composers like Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann, as well as major figures of 20th century including Hindemith and Shostakovich.

This is Evgeny Sviridov’s debut CD on the GENUIN label. This Russian violinist is captivated by Baroque music and in 2010 he won the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. This recital includes Biber’s eighth sonata, a real showpiece, as it was composed for two violins, but can be played on one, as Sviridov skilfully demonstrates.