Concert « Bach, italien et français »

German by birth, Bach was also deeply knowledgeable about music.

Italian, that of Frescobaldi, Vivaldi or Marcello, as well as dance music

French, which then constituted the unsurpassed model for the whole of Europe. The "continuation

of dances”, composed of types of dances with contrasting rhythms (German,

courante, sarabandes, minuets, jigs) is omnipresent in all his music

instrumental.

This is how he wrote for the harpsichord an Italian Concert, a true imaginary concerto

in which the keyboard instrument is the soloist and the orchestra. We will find

all the canons of the French suite in two other masterpieces, the Overture to

the French and Partita No. 4.

Benjamin Alard, organist and harpsichordist, is indisputably one of the best

current interpreters of Bach's music, of which he produced the first complete works

monumental for the Harmonia Mundi label.