Bach, J S: Minuet in G minor, BWV842

The former German Democratic Republic took its role as guardian of the important German cultural traditions, especially in music, very seriously, and this can clearly be seen not only in the magnificent archives of music from central Germany and the court of Frederick the Great, but also in collections of early instruments. This 2-CD set features music performed on keyboards produced by some of the greatest instrument makers of their time, including

Gottfried Silbermann, Heinrich Harrass and Johann Jacob Donat. They are preserved in collections at the Händel-Haus at Halle/Saale, and in music instrument museums at Leipzig, Markneukirchen and Potsdam Sanssouci.

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.