Bach, J S: Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV826

Astonishingly, the Six Partitas for Clavier were the first works Bach published – after more than twenty years of composing. 'Opus 1' (as he called it) was 'offered to music lovers in order to refresh their spirits' and the works scored an immediate hit, becoming core repertoire for keyboard players both professional and amateur. 'Partita' is simply another name for a suite of dance movements, and each of these collections combines grace, agility and sprightliness with a nobleness of spirit which makes them not only accessible and attractive, but also worthy in every way of their position in the Clavierübung – Bach's own summation of his compositional skills.

Irish keyboard player Malcolm Proud, one of the world's leading performers of the hapsichord, presents a recording of one of J. S. Bach’s major works, the Six Partitas BWV 825-830 - full of passion and poetry but also fantastically virtuosic. Although modestly titled Clavier Übung (Keyboard Practice), the six Partitas, consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Menuets, and other galanteries offered by their composer "to music lovers as refreshment of their spirits", are works of astonishing richness and complexity.

The cycle, which in 1731 was the first group of works to be published by Bach himself, represents a unique stylistic synthesis of the suite form with a particular emphasis on most varied and imaginative opening movements. In his 1802 biography of Bach, Nikolaus Forkel famously wrote that “such splendid compositions for the clavier had not been seen or heard before… so brilliant, harmonious, expressive and constantly novel are they.”

Born in Dublin, Malcolm Proud studied with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam and won first prize at the Edinburgh International Harpsichord Competition in 1982. Since then, he has established an international career as an organist and harpsichordist, performing with such groups as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Baroque Soloists, the Gabrieli Consort and the Academy of Ancient Music, and touring throughout Europe, North America and Japan. He is a member of the Irish Baroque Orchestra and a founder member of Camerata Kilkenny.

Malcolm Proud’s other Bach discs include four more on Maya Recordings: a selection of pieces from Clavierübung III played on the organ (MCD0803); the Goldberg Variations performed on the harpsichord (MCD0102), the six Sonatas for violin and harpsichord with Maya Homburger (MCD9503); and The Musical Offering with Camerata Kilkenny (MCD1003). He has also recorded for EMI, Virgin, Deutsche Grammophon, CRD, RCA and Hyperion amongst other labels.

Moving from the harpsichord to the clavichord or the organ was probably easy enough for Johann Sebastian Bach. The source of the sound didn’t matter, because for the master of Leipzig, what counted were thought and intellect: the form, tonality and melodic contours ere more important than the instrument itself. And indeed, through this work of musical thought, Bach used different keyboards, prefiguring the instruments to come: the piano as a synthesis of the harpsichord, the organ and the clavichord.

Bach was aware of exchanges between the different European schools, which allowed musicians to copy, transcribe and adapt the work of contemporaries. Bach did this with his own scores, as well as those of his colleagues. Over the centuries, Busoni, Siloti, Kempff and Kurtàg amongst other have transformed the magic of the organ, orchestra and choruses of the cantatas to the piano.

And now, Ensemble Contraste presents its own vision of the Cantor: a school of freedom that never betrays his conception and allows the beauty, rigorous construction and triumphant polyphonies to shine through.

"La Dolce Volta, a new French classical music label whose outstanding production values include big, bold sound and cerebral liner notes laid out in cerebral, hip typography" Strings

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th-century composers. A regular guest soloist with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, he appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.

A dedicated educator of young musicians, Mr. Feltsman holds the Distinguished Chair of Professor of Piano at the State University of New York, New Paltz, and is a member of the piano faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival-Institute PianoSummer at SUNY New Paltz, a three week- long, intensive training program for advanced piano students that attracts major young talents from all over the world.

“… quite simply an amazing pianist!” The New York Times