Il Gusto Barocco, Jörg Halubek & Anaïs Chen - Bach: Sonata & Concertos (2024)

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Il Gusto Barocco, Jörg Halubek & Anaïs Chen - Bach: Sonata & Concertos (2024)

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On this CD Jorg Halubek and his Ensemble "Il Gusto Barocco" attempt a reconstruction of three of Bach's organ concertos that today are primarily treated as harpsichord concertos. How thrilling must it have sounded when Johann Sebastian Bach at the organ engaged in a contest of virtuosity with an entire orchestra. The present recording offers a tangible and imaginative impression of it.

Il Gusto Barocco and its director and maestro al harpsichord Jörg Halubek are continuing their Johann Sebastian Bach series: “Sonata & Concertos” is the fourth album in this series at Berlin Classics. Since 2020, the ensemble has been publishing chamber music works by the Thomaskantor in unusual, reimagined interpretations around March 21st, Bach's birthday. This time the focus is on three organ concerts, which today are primarily considered Bach's harpsichord concertos and were transcribed by Jörg Halubek. The violinist Anaïs Chen plays a moderating role on the album by presenting the movements of the Violin Sonata in G minor BWV 1001 between the concerts.

In a travel report from 1725, a newspaper correspondent mentions a concert for organ and strings given in Dresden's Sophienkirche. This could be an indication that Bach performed his solo concerto BWV 1052 on the organ that day. Today the work, of which Bach himself made a fair copy of the score, is included in a collection of seven harpsichord concertos. Furthermore, the first two movements of the concert can also be found as a symphony and choral introduction to the cantata “We must go through a lot of tribulations” BWV 146, the period in which it was written is not clear. For his transcription of BWV 1052, Jörg Halubek chose the large Silbermann organ of the Friedenskirche in Ponitz: “Bach's own arrangement of BWV 1052 was of course intended for the large church organ when the cantata was performed, not for a larger chest organ,” explains Halubek. “That makes a huge difference in many areas: tempi, sound, mood and vocal system. The magnificent sound of the large organ now forms the foundation of the ensemble, the instruments play 'into the organ', so to speak, with concise articulation in order to give the overall sound further nuances." The collection of the seven harpsichord concertos includes BWV 1056 and BWV 1058, one of the best known, both of which were also transcribed for organ by Jörg Halubek.

Il Gusto Barocco, founded in Stuttgart in 2008 by the conductor, harpsichordist and organist Jörg Halubek, consists of leading international virtuosos of the younger generation. The members are united by the musical tradition of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Most recently, the successful recordings of Bach's chamber music works such as “Partita & Concertos” (Berlin Classics 2023), “Suite & Concertos” (Berlin Classics 2022), his Brandenburg Concertos (Berlin Classics 2021), Claudio Monteverdi's “Marienvesper” (SWR 2/ cpo 2020), Johann David Heinichen’s “Flavio” (first recording SWR 2/cpo 2019) and Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello’s “Tisbe” (SWR 2/cpo 2015).