Pieter-Jan Belder - J.S. Bach: Harpsichord Concertos (2022)

Bach at his most extrovert and exhilarating: new, period-instrument accounts of the earliest masterpieces in the lineage of keyboard concertos.

Piano concertos from Beethoven to Brahms to Busoni and beyond are all indebted to the example of Bach in his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, and its liberation of the harpsichord from continuo support to virtuoso soloist, in both the spectacular first-movement cadenza and the one-against-many dramatic narrative which marks a revolutionary break with the concerto-grosso model of collegiate co-operation.

Bach wrote the six Brandenburgs in his early 30s, while the majority of the works here were either written or compiled once he had moved to Leipzig in 1723. Taking charge of the music at a popular café, he adapted cantata movements and earlier concertos for other instruments, producing seven intricately worked pieces which traverse an expressive range from the high drama of the D minor BWV 1052, to the equable dialogue of the D major BWV 1054 (a reworking of the E major Violin Concerto) to the tightly wound pathos of the F minor BWV 1056.

Filling out the album to well over two and a half hours of music is the A minor Concerto BWV 1044 scored for the same combination of flute, violin and keyboard soloists as the Fifth Brandenburg, and in which the keyboard also takes the starring role, though with certain features which suggest it was either put together late in Bach’s life or possibly by one of his pupils or sons.

As both a harpsichordist and music director, Pieter-Jan Belder has been recording Bach’s music for more than two decades with Brilliant Classics and the period-instrument Musica Amphion ensemble which he founded in the tradition of distinguished Dutch early-music groups such as Frans Bruggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century. He and his colleagues play together with a tightly knit sympathy borne of long familiarity and a comprehensive grasp of Bach’s output across every field of his music.

Tracklist
[10:03] 01. Staas Swierstra - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050: I. Allegro
[05:25] 02. Staas Swierstra - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050: II. Affettuoso
[05:15] 03. Sayuri Yamagata - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050: III. Allegro
[07:42] 04. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro
[06:05] 05. Rie Kimura - Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: II. Adagio
[08:05] 06. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: III. Allegro
[07:54] 07. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1053: I. Without Tempo Indication
[04:19] 08. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1053: II. Siciliano
[06:31] 09. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1053: III. Allegro
[07:38] 10. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1054: I. Without Tempo Indication
[05:24] 11. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1054: II. Adagio e piano Sempre
[02:45] 12. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1054: III. Allegro
[04:28] 13. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 4 in A Major, BWV 1055: I. Allegro
[04:34] 14. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 4 in A Major, BWV 1055: II. Larghetto
[04:15] 15. Staas Swierstra - Harpsichord Concerto No. 4 in A Major, BWV 1055: III. Allegro ma non Tanto
[03:32] 16. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: I. Without Tempo Indication
[02:20] 17. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Largo
[03:24] 18. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto
[07:02] 19. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 6 in F Major, BWV 1057: I. Without Tempo Indication
[03:31] 20. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 6 in F Major, BWV 1057: II. Andante
[05:04] 21. Pieter-Jan Belder - Harpsichord Concerto No. 6 in F Major, BWV 1057: III. Allegro Assai
[03:47] 22. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G Minor, BWV 1058: I. Without Tempo Indication
[05:57] 23. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G Minor, BWV 1058: II. Andante
[03:29] 24. Yoshiko Morita - Harpsichord Concerto No. 7 in G Minor, BWV 1058: III. Allegro Assai
[08:41] 25. Elise Dupont - Triple Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1044: I. Allegro
[05:38] 26. Elise Dupont - Triple Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1044: II. Adagio ma non tanto e Dolce
[07:15] 27. Elise Dupont - Triple Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1044: III. Alla Breve