Bach, J S: Suite in E flat major, BWV819

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.

In 1994, pianist Ivo Janssen started a very ambitious project: performing and recording the complete keyboard works by J S Bach. In February 1998 the first CD in this series was released, on his own label VOID, which was especially started for this purpose.

This set is the only complete keyboard set containing previously cut passages and includes 191 BWV numbers and over 23 hours of music. “Janssen has admirable skills for the task: a pianist’s sensibility, an unflagging imagination and compelling musicianship.” American Record Guide.