Bach: An Italian Journey Luca Oberti

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Concerto in D Major, BWV 972 (After the Violin Concerto, Op. 3 No. 9, RV 230, by Antonio Vivaldi):
• 1 I. Allegro 02:13
• 2 II. Larghetto 02:37
• 3 III. Allegro 02:24
• Fantasia and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 904:
• 4 Fantasia 03:32
• 5 Fuga 05:16
• Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 (After the Oboe Concerto, S.D935 by Alessandro Marcello):
• 6 I. [Andante spiccato] 03:12
• 7 II. Adagio 04:23
• 8 III. Presto 04:06
• Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo in B-Flat Major, BWV 992:
• 9 Arioso. Ist eine Schmeichelung der Freunde, um denselben von seiner Reise abzuhalten (Adagio) 02:16
• 10 Ist eine Vorstellung unterschiedlicher Casuum, die ihm in der Fremde könnten vorfallen 01:36
• 11 Ist ein allgemeines Lamento der Freunde (Adagiosissimo) 03:16
• 12 Allhier kommen die Freunde (Weil sie doch sehen, dass es anders nicht sein kann) und nehmen Abschied 01:03
• 13 Aria di Postiglione (Allegro poco) 01:28
• 14 Fuga all’imitatione di Posta 02:57
• Aria variata alla maniera italiana in A Minor, BWV 989:
• 15 Aria 02:23
• 16 Variatio No. 1 (Largo) 02:13
• 17 Variatio No. 2 01:56
• 18 Variatio No. 3 01:54
• 19 Variatio No. 4 (Allegro) 01:12
• 20 Variatio No. 5 (Un poco Allegro) 01:17
• 21 Variatio No. 6 (Andante) 01:57
• 22 Variatio No. 7 (Un poco Allegro) 01:06
• 23 Variatio No. 8 (Allegro) 01:07
• 24 Variatio No. 9 01:11
• 25 Variatio No. 10 02:08
• Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto in F Major, BWV 971:
• 26 I. [Allegro] 04:20
• 27 Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto in F Major, BWV 971: 03:59
• 28 III. Presto 04:19
• Total Runtime 01:11:21

Info for Bach: An Italian Journey

After his first solo album of music by Marchand and Clérambault, released in 2015 and nominated for a Preisder Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the harpsichordist Luca Oberti, who has performed on the international scene for years alongside such figures as Marc Minkowski and Christophe Rousset, presents a new CD on the theme of Bach’s imaginary journey to Italy.

Schütz, Froberger, Muffat, Handel, Hasse, Mozart and Wagner are merely the most famous of the many musicians who crossed the Alpsto immerse themselves in the world of Italian music and grasp its atmospheres and its secrets. Yet the composer who most fully assimilated the Italian style was Johann Sebastian Bach, who never even set foot in Italy. Hisjourney was a virtual one: the scores of the Italian masters, which he avidly studied and absorbed from childhood onwards, guided him on an ideal itinerary from Vivaldi’s Venice to Frescobaldi’s Rome.

Beginning with the transcriptions of concertos by Vivaldi and Marcello, and continuing with pieces of Italian inspiration like the Aria Variata allamaniera italiana, the Capriccio sulla lontananza del fratello dilettissimo and the Fantasia and Fugue BWV904, the journey culminates in the celebrated Italian Concerto.

Luca Oberti, harpsichord

Luca Oberti
described by the press as “one of the finest harpsichord talents in Europe” is one of the most highly acclaimed young musicians of today, both in the world of solo and chamber music and in the opera house.

He studied with Emilia Fadini, Christophe Rousset and Pierre Hantaï and has won prestigious awards such as the Diploma of Merit (Diploma di Merito) from the Chigiana Academy in Siena, and the National Prize for Art (Premio Nazionale delle Arti) from the Italian Ministry of Culture. This led him to begin a thriving concert career at a very young age, performing regularly with orchestras and soloists such as Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Talens Lyriques, Il Pomo d’oro, Les Ambassadeurs and Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Enrico Onofori, Stefano Montanari, Amandine Beyer, Véronique Gens, and Max Emanuel Cenčić, in the most important concert halls of Europe including Konzerthaus Wien, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin and Mozarteum Salzburg, among others.

As a harpsichordist, fortepianist and assistant conductor, he has worked on many opera productions in theatres such as La Monnaie, Brussels, Theater an der Wien, Théatre du Capitole, Toulouse, Théatre des Champs­ Elysées, Paris, Opéra de Lausanne and Beijing Poly Theater, under such conductors as Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset and Ludovic Morlot.

His first solo CD, devoted to the harpsichord works of L. Marchand and LN Clérambault, published by Stradivarius in September 2015, is gaining unanimous acclaim of both audiences and critics. Luca Oberti also recorded for Naïve, Glossa and Enchiriadis, as well as for the main European television and radio stations (BBC, ORF, RAI, Mezzo, Arte, among others).

In 2014, he founded the Xarabande ensemble in Milan. The group specialises in baroque and classical chamber repertoire, especially highlighting its dramatic and theatrical characteristics.

This album contains no booklet.