Léon Berben plays Fantasies & Fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach, showing the wide range of the composer‘s ingenious keyboard compositions. The album includes rarely performed works of Bach‘s early years as well as masterpieces like the »Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue«. „This fantasy is one of a kind and has never been matched“, Bach biographer Johann Nicolaus Forkel wrote in 1802 on BWV903. The rejoice in virtuoso, improvised playing, with neither composer nor player subjecting themselves to any rules, made the fantasy a popular genre for keyboard players in the 18th century. Under the influence of the intentions of the past Renaissance period, the „free fantasy“ developed and found its musical peak in J.S. Bach’s works. Léon Berben performs on a harpsichord by Keith Hill (after Christian Zell, Hamburg 1728)
Street date: 15.04.2010
Léon Berben
Location: Historischer Reitstadel, Neumarkt i.d. Oberpfalz // Recording Producer, Engineer & Digital Editing: Stephan Cahen // Microphones: DPA4006, Schoeps CMC6MK21&2s // Mic Preamps: Lake People F355 (class a), F366 // A/D Converter: EMM Labs ADC8 MkIV // Monitoring: dCS 954 D/A converter, Chord Electronics amps, B&W Nautilus speakers // DAW: Pyramix Virtual Studio // Original Recording Format: DSD64
1 CD Audio, 61:37