Bach: French Suites, BWV 812-817 Gianluca Luisi

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812:
• 1French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: I. Allemande03:00
• 2French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: II. Courante01:44
• 3French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: III. Sarabande02:09
• 4French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: IV. Menuet I00:56
• 5French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: V. Menuet II01:07
• 6French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: VI. Menuet I da capo00:30
• 7French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: VII. Gigue02:31
• French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a:
• 8French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: I. Allemande03:15
• 9French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: II. Courante01:39
• 10French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: III. Sarabande02:22
• 11French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: IV. Air01:16
• 12French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: V. Menuet01:27
• 13French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813a: VI. Gigue02:20
• French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a:
• 14French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: I. Allemande03:01
• 15French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: II. Courante01:44
• 16French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: III. Sarabande02:15
• 17French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: IV. Anglaise01:14
• 18French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: V. Menuet01:16
• 19French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VI. Trio01:01
• 20French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VII. Menuet00:41
• 21French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814a: VIII. Gigue01:48
• French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a:
• 22French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: I. Allemande02:41
• 23French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: II. Courante01:42
• 24French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: III. Sarabande01:45
• 25French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: IV. Gavotte01:11
• 26French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: V. Air00:56
• 27French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: VI. Menuet01:16
• 28French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815a: VII. Gigue02:23
• French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816:
• 29French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: I. Allemande02:35
• 30French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: II. Courante01:29
• 31French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: III. Sarabande04:25
• 32French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: IV. Gavotte01:13
• 33French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: V. Bourrée01:10
• 34French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VI. Loure02:31
• 35French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VII. Gigue03:38
• French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817:
• 36French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: I. Allemande02:18
• 37French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: II. Courante01:13
• 38French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: III. Sarabande02:05
• 39French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: IV. Gavotte01:19
• 40French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: V. Polonaise01:28
• 41French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VI. Menuet01:12
• 42French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VII. Bourrée01:16
• 43French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VIII. Gigue02:28
• Total Runtime01:19:30

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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