Bach: Italienisches Konzert, Französische Ouverture, Vier Duette – Matteo Pasqualini

If we are to trust the composer, the pieces recorded here are among Bach’s finest, which is saying something. They were all chosen by the musician as those which best represented his art, and therefore selected for publication – an honour which Bach bestowed on very few of his creations. The second volume of the Clavier-Übung collects two major works written in a style which was felt as “foreign” by Bach’s German contemporaries. The Italian Concerto evokes the Italian genre of the Baroque concerto, with its typical alternations of “solo” and “tutti”, both of which are mimicked by Bach’s astute use of the harpsichord’s two manuals. The French Overture alludes to the refined court dances, gathered in suites, which were played and performed throughout the Baroque era, and which followed (as in Bach’s Orchestral Suites) a piece written in the form of a French Overture (with two slow movements in a solemn pace and with dotted rhythm framing a quick fugato section). This Da Vinci Classics album is also completed by the Four Duets, excerpted from the third volume of the Clavier-Übung; the album is recorded on two harpsichords, both of which are modern copies after Michael Mietke (1700).