Johann Sebastian Bach Photo: Elias Gottlob Haussmann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Around 1738 J S Bach wrote a set of solo harpsichord concertos. The D minor concerto is one of the earliest examples of a keyboard concerto still performed today.
It has an intriguing, hybrid genealogy. It uses musical material from two of his cantatas and may have originally been composed for the violin.
The three-movement concerto begins with a driving opening theme and fiendishly virtuosic passages that sweep you along on a fast-moving river of notes. The middle movement is slow and mysterious in the key of G minor. By contrast, the intricate counterpoint and brisk tempo of the third movement are characteristic of Bach’s finales. Pianist Diedre Irons ONZM MBE plays a cadenza by Brahms.
Recorded in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington on 21 September 2019 by RNZ Concert
Producer/sound engineer: Darryl Stack
