Bach: French Suites, BWV 812-817 Gianluca Luisi

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812:
• 1 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: I. Allemande 03:00
• 2 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: II. Courante 01:44
• 3 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: III. Sarabande 02:09
• 4 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: IV. Menuet I 00:56
• 5 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: V. Menuet II 01:07
• 6 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: VI. Menuet I da capo 00:30
• 7 French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: VII. Gigue 02:31
• French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a:
• 8 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: I. Allemande 03:15
• 9 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: II. Courante 01:39
• 10 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: III. Sarabande 02:22
• 11 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: IV. Air 01:16
• 12 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: V. Menuet 01:27
• 13 French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: VI. Gigue 02:20
• French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a:
• 14 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: I. Allemande 03:01
• 15 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: II. Courante 01:44
• 16 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: III. Sarabande 02:15
• 17 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: IV. Anglaise 01:14
• 18 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: V. Menuet 01:16
• 19 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VI. Trio 01:01
• 20 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VII. Menuet 00:41
• 21 French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VIII. Gigue 01:48
• French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a:
• 22 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: I. Allemande 02:41
• 23 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: II. Courante 01:42
• 24 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: III. Sarabande 01:45
• 25 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: IV. Gavotte 01:11
• 26 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: V. Air 00:56
• 27 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: VI. Menuet 01:16
• 28 French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: VII. Gigue 02:23
• French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816:
• 29 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: I. Allemande 02:35
• 30 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: II. Courante 01:29
• 31 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: III. Sarabande 04:25
• 32 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: IV. Gavotte 01:13
• 33 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: V. Bourrée 01:10
• 34 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VI. Loure 02:31
• 35 French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VII. Gigue 03:38
• French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817:
• 36 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: I. Allemande 02:18
• 37 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: II. Courante 01:13
• 38 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: III. Sarabande 02:05
• 39 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: IV. Gavotte 01:19
• 40 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: V. Polonaise 01:28
• 41 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VI. Menuet 01:12
• 42 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VII. Bourrée 01:16
• 43 French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VIII. Gigue 02:28
• Total Runtime 01:19:30

Info for Bach: French Suites, BWV 812-817

The six French Suites, BWV 812–817 were written for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) by Johann Sebastian Bach between 1722 and 1725. They were later given the name "French" by Bach's biographer J.N. Forkel, who wrote that "one usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner" - despite the fact that only a few of the movements are in the French style (the courantes of the first and third suites, for example). Bach employed dance movements that are foreign to the French manner, such as the Polonaise of the Sixth suite.

No definitive manuscript of the suites has survived. This is due to the fact that Bach made several copies, all with remarkable differences in regard to which movements are included in each suite, but also because several other manuscript sources from the 1730s and '40s are in the hand of copyists. Italian pianist Gianluca Luisi is perhaps one of today's most relevant exponents of Bach's keyboard music, and one of the very few pianists to have won the Saarbrücken International Piano Competition. Luisi's Bach is fanciful, rhythmic, filled with contrasts and timbric nuances.

The sound of a brand new Steinway D piano was captured by Brüel & Kjær microphones.

Gianluca Luisi, piano

Gianluca Luisi
Wahrhaft Unglaubliches muss ein Pianist leisten, der sich diesen voller klanglicher und technischer Höchstschwierigkeiten berstenden Transkriptionen von Franz Liszt annehmen will.

Kein Problem allerdings offenbar für den italienischen Starpianisten Gianluca Luisi, der nicht zuletzt bei den Musikfestpielen Saar 2013 mit seiner Interpretation der Klaviertranskriptionen zweier Beethoven-Symphonien langanhaltende Standing-Ovations erhielt.

Gianluca Luisi gehört zu den herausragenden Pianisten Italiens, hoch gelobt von Presse und Publikum. Dabei gehört er nicht zu den Pianisten, die bereits seit ihrer Kindheit im Rampenlicht stehen, wenngleich er seinen ersten Klavierunterricht im Alter von sechs Jahren erhielt. Ihm wurde genügend Zeit gelassen, seine enormen Fähigkeiten zu entwickeln, was sich sicherlich auch in seinen brillanten und leidenschaftlichen, jedoch stets unaufdringlichen Interpretationen widerspiegelt.

Nach und nach konnte er in überaus bedeutenden Kulturzentren Erfahrungen sammeln, woraufhin er im Jahr 2007 sein Debut in der New Yorker Carnegie Weill Recital Hall vor einem hingerissenen Publikum gab. Gianluca Luisi studierte bei Franco Scala und Piero Rattalino an der Musikhochschule in Imola und bei Aldo Ciccolini in Paris und Sergio Perticaroli in Rom. Er erhielt mehrere Spitzenpreise bei Wettbewerben. Bisher ist Luisi in Deutschland, Frankreich, Großbritannien, Luxemburg, Malta, Österreich, Portugal, in der Schweiz, den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, Japan sowie in seinem Heimatland Italien aufgetreten.

Er gastierte in renommierten Konzertsälen wie z. B. im Auditorium di Milano, dem Purcell Room der Royal Albert Hall in London, der Carnegie Hall in New York und dem Baumann Auditorium in Portland. Außerdem war er beim Schleswig-Holstein- Musik Festival, dem Bachfest Leipzig, dem Europäischen Musikfest Stuttgart, den Musikfestspielen Saar und bei den Serate Musicali in Mailand zu Gast. Gianluca Luisi spielte mit herausragenden Dirigenten und Orchestern und hat außerdem feste Kammermusikpartnerschaften mit dem Geiger Marco Rogliano, mit dem Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt und dem Quintett Chantily.

Gianluca Luisi liebt insbesondere die Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs und spielt häufig monographische Programme dieses Komponisten.

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