Johann Sebastian Bach

Audiophile recording with special techniques and produced in SACD format

Works include Quartet in two movements, Facing Death, Garden of Eros, and Bach’s Prelude in B minor BWV 869 arranged for string quartet with the first six bars augmented with a viola part by Stravinsky. Andriessen completed this work in 2006.

This new release brings you a well-filled 3-CD set for the price of two. The first two discs of this set feature a brand-new recording of Bach’s Cello Suites with the well-loved Russian cellist Karine Georgian. Karine considers this some of the most moving music ever written. She confesses that she has lived with the Suites and has played them in concert for many years and has always been in awe of their sublime beauty. It becomes evident from the very beginning of Suite No. 1 that Georgian brings to her playing a very special insight and deep understanding of these cello masterpieces.

Karine Georgian’s inspiring and very impressive partner in this recording of the Gamba Sonatas is harpsichordist Gary Cooper.

This disc features beautiful and moving works reflecting on the grief of the Virgin Mary written by great Vivaldi, Pergolesi and Bach. Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater dates from around 1711 or 1712 and he used just the first ten verses of the text, creating one of the most sombre of all settings.

Bach’s adaptation of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater uses a contemporary German version of the Biblical Psalm 51. To suit the requirements of the new text Bach made certain alterations to Pergolesi’s vocal parts but retained the scheme of solo arias and duets between a soprano and an alto voice. He also added a new, independent viola part to the score and rewrote the basso continuo, giving the work a new harmonic vitality.

Pergolesi’s Salve Regina, composed around the same time as the Stabat Mater, and of a similarly expressive, sorrowful style. Of Pergolesi’s two settings of the text, the present one – originally in C minor – is the most well-known, and is here performed in the F minor version for alto voice.

Daniel Taylor directs the Theatre of Early Music as well as performing himself - “The beauty of his voice will stop you in your tracks.” Gramophone

French harpsichordist Olivier Baumont has distinguished himself as a performer and scholar, specializing in French Baroque repertoire. He took up the harpsichord without learning piano first, sharing his family's love for French history of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He studied with Kenneth Gilbert and Huguette Dreyfus and worked with Gustav Leonhardt in his master classes in Cologne. He was awarded first prize in harpsichord (1981) and in chamber music (1982) at the Paris Conservatory and won the Concours de Solistes de Radio France in 1982. He frequently performs at music festivals in Europe, England, and the United States, and has toured widely. Since 1992, he has directed the Festival Couperin at Chaumes-en-Brie. In September, 2001, Baumont became professor of harpsichord at the Paris Conservatory. He is the author of a biography of François Couperin, has edited harpsichord works by Michel Corrette and Jacques Duphly, and has contributed scholarly articles to numerous musicological journals.

French harpsichordist Olivier Baumont has distinguished himself as a performer and scholar, specializing in French Baroque repertoire. He took up the harpsichord without learning piano first, sharing his family's love for French history of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He studied with Kenneth Gilbert and Huguette Dreyfus and worked with Gustav Leonhardt in his master classes in Cologne. He was awarded first prize in harpsichord (1981) and in chamber music (1982) at the Paris Conservatory and won the Concours de Solistes de Radio France in 1982. He frequently performs at music festivals in Europe, England, and the United States, and has toured widely. Since 1992, he has directed the Festival Couperin at Chaumes-en-Brie. In September, 2001, Baumont became professor of harpsichord at the Paris Conservatory. He is the author of a biography of François Couperin, has edited harpsichord works by Michel Corrette and Jacques Duphly, and has contributed scholarly articles to numerous musicological journals.