26th International Bach Chamber Music Festival | Opening Concert | Johann Sebastian Bach Concertos for Harpsichords

Participants

Saale Fischer (Saale Fischer, Estonia), harpsichord

Ene Nael (Ene Nael, Estonia), harpsichord

Ieva Saliete, harpsichord

Gertrūda Krauksta, harpsichord

Aina Kalnciema, harpsichord

Aira Maria Lehtipuu (Aira Maria Lehtipuu, Finland), violin

Marta Spārniņa, violin

Pēteris Trasuns, viola

Māra Botmane, cello

Toms Timofejevs, double bass

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685–1750)

Concertos for two harpsichords (BWV 1060, BWV 1062), three harpsichords (BWV 1064) and four harpsichords (BWV 1065)

For the first time in Latvia, four harpsichords in one concert!

In Johann Sebastian Bach's music, the harpsichord reveals all its splendor, virtuosic, sparkling, and surprisingly versatile. In this concert, we will hear it in a special interplay, with two, three, and even four harpsichords sounding together with a string ensemble.

Musicians from several generations from Latvia, Estonia, and Finland will come together on one stage. In Bach's music, they will create a varied musical dialogue, from a delicate and nuanced sound to an energetic and brilliant interplay of four harpsichords.

The concert will be a rare opportunity to hear four harpsichords in one place and discover the splendor of Bach's music in different combinations of sound, performed by musicians from Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

Saale Fischer (Saale Fischer) is an Estonian harpsichordist specializing in historical keyboard instruments. She is a co-founder of the early music ensemble Floridante and the artistic director of the Haapsalu Early Music Festival, one of the most important early music festivals in the Baltic region. Saale Fischer is also a music researcher; in 2020 she earned her Ph.D. from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, defending a doctoral dissertation on the significance of tempo and rhetorical sense of time in the performance of 17th- and 18th-century instrumental music.

Ene Nael (Ene Nael) is an Estonian harpsichordist, chamber musician, and teacher. She studied piano and harpsichord at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, and further studied with internationally recognized early music specialists such as Pierre Hantaï, Jacques Ogg, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. She is also a member of the early music ensemble Una Corda.

Ieva Saliete is one of Latvia's most versatile harpsichordists, the head of the Early Music Department at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and an associate professor. She regularly performs across Europe with such renowned early music ensembles as Freiburger Barockorchester, Ensemble 415, Kammerorchester Basel, and the Bern early music orchestra Les Passions de l’Âme, and has collaborated with internationally known artists. Alongside historically informed performance practice, Ieva Saliete also specializes in new music, with works especially commissioned for and dedicated to her. In 2018, Ieva Saliete received the Latvian Grand Music Award in the category