Bach: The Complete Keyboard Concertos Mahan Esfahani & Britten Sinfonia

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052:
• 1 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro 07:51
• 2 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052: II. Adagio 07:08
• 3 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052: III. Allegro 08:13
• Keyboard Concerto in E Major, BWV 1053:
• 4 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in E Major, BWV 1053: I. [Allegro] 08:06
• 5 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in E Major, BWV 1053: II. Siciliano 05:12
• 6 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in E Major, BWV 1053: III. Allegro 06:43
• Keyboard Concerto in D Major, BWV 1054 (After BWV 1042):
• 7 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Major, BWV 1054 (After BWV 1042): I. [Allegro] 07:23
• 8 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Major, BWV 1054 (After BWV 1042): II. Adagio e piano sempre 06:22
• 9 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Major, BWV 1054 (After BWV 1042): III. Allegro 02:48
• Keyboard Concerto in F Major, BWV 1057:
• 10 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Major, BWV 1057: I. [Allegro] 07:27
• 11 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Major, BWV 1057: II. Andante 04:14
• 12 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Major, BWV 1057: III. Allegro assai 05:12
• Keyboard Concerto in A Major, BWV 1055:
• 13 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in A Major, BWV 1055: I. Allegro 04:14
• 14 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in A Major, BWV 1055: II. Larghetto 06:00
• 15 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in A Major, BWV 1055: III. Allegro ma non tanto 04:19
• Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056:
• 16 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: I. [Allegro] 03:11
• 17 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Adagio 03:09
• 18 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto 03:52
• Concerto for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord in A Minor, BWV 1044:
• 19 Bach: Concerto for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord in A Minor, BWV 1044: I. Allegro 08:52
• 20 Bach: Concerto for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord in A Minor, BWV 1044: II. Adagio ma non tanto e dolce 06:31
• 21 Bach: Concerto for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord in A Minor, BWV 1044: III. Tempo di alla breve 06:58
• Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058 (After BWV 1041):
• 22 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058 (After BWV 1041): I. [Allegro] 03:39
• 23 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058 (After BWV 1041): II. Andante 05:52
• 24 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058 (After BWV 1041): III. Allegro assai 03:50
• Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. Esfahani):
• 25 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. Esfahani): I. Allegro 05:44
• 26 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. Esfahani): II. Cembalo ad libitum 01:02
• 27 Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1059 (Reconstr. Esfahani): III. Presto 03:34
• Total Runtime 02:27:26

Info for Bach: The Complete Keyboard Concertos

Mahan Esfahani’s mammoth project to record the complete harpsichord works of Johann Sebastian Bach reaches its culmination with "The Complete Keyboard Concertos". At every stage of this series, Esfahani has consistently challenged established notions about the composer. In collaboration with the Britten Sinfonia, he impressively refutes the widespread assumption that the harpsichord is an “old-fashioned” instrument, deliberately opting for modern rather than historical instruments.

In his typically knowledgeable and captivating liner notes, Esfahani paints a portrait of Bach as a musical pioneer who, for the first time, placed the harpsichord at the center of a concerto as a solo instrument. In addition to his roles as harpsichordist and conductor, Esfahani further expands his artistic profile here to include a compositional dimension: the world premiere recording of his own reconstruction of the “lost” Concerto No. 8 (BWV 1059), which has survived only as a fragment.

Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
Britten Sinfonia

Please Note: we do not offer the 192kHz version of this album, because our analysis clearly showed, that the 192kHz does not reach a frequency spectrum, that would justify to offer 192kHz. Hence we offer the 96kHz version.

Mahan Esfahani
Since making his London debut in 2009, Mahan Esfahani has established himself as the first harpsichordist in a generation whose work spans virtually all the areas of classical music-making from critically-acclaimed performances and recordings of the standard repertoire to working with the leading composers of the day to pioneering concerto appearances with major symphony orchestras on four continents. He was the first and only harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist (2008-2010), a Borletti-Buitoni prize winner (2009), a nominee for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year (2014, 2015, 2017), and on the shortlist as Instrumentalist of the Year for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards (2013, 2019).

As a concerto soloist his partners at the podium have included leading conductors such as Leif Segerstam, François Xavier-Roth, Ilan Volkov, Riccardo Minasi, Ludovic Morlot, Alexander Liebreich, Martyn Brabbins, Thomas Dausgaard, Jiří Rožeň, Antoni Wit, Thierry Fischer, Jiří Bělohlávek, and Andris Poga with major symphony and chamber orchestras and contemporary music ensembles. He also varies his solo engagements with meaningful chamber music partnerships alongside artists such as Antje Weithaas (violin), Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Michala Petri (recorder), and Hille Perl (viola da gamba).

Esfahani’s work with new and modern music is particularly acclaimed, with high-profile solo and concertante commissions from George Lewis, Brett Dean, Bent Sørensen, Miroslav Srnka, Poul Ruders, Anahita Abbasi, Laurence Osborne, Gary Carpenter, Miroslav Srnka, Elena Kats-Chernin, Oscar Jockel, Daniel Kidane, Michael Berkeley, and other contemporary voices in forming the backbone of his repertoire. His commitment to exploring the contemporary voice for the harpsichord is reflected in his 2020 Hyperion release ‘Musique?’ – a compilation of electronic and acoustic works including the modern revival of Luc Ferrari’s 1974 Programme commun for harpsichord and tape.

His richly-varied discography for Hyperion and Deutsch Grammophon – including an ongoing series of the complete works of Bach for the former – has been acclaimed in the English- and foreign-language press and has garnered one Gramophone award, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, a Diapason d’Or and ‘Choc de Classica’ in France, and an ICMA as well as numerous Editor’s Choices in a variety of publications including a spot in the Telegraph’s compilation of essential classical music and the New York Times List of Top Recordings.

He can be frequently heard as a commentator on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4 and as a host for such programs as Record Review, Building a Library, and Sunday Feature, as well as in live programmes with the popular mathematician and presenter Marcus du Sautoy; for the BBC’s Sunday Feature he is currently at work on his fourth radio documentary following popular programmes on such subjects as the early history of African-American composers in the classical sphere and the development of orchestral music in Azerbaijan. Likewise, he is a regular contributor of cultural commentary and reviews for such publications as The Critic, Engelsberg Ideas, The New Yorker, Guardian, Times, and other print media.

Born in Tehran in 1984, Esfahani grew up in the United States and studied musicology and history at Stanford University and worked as a repetiteur and studied in Boston with Peter Watchorn before completing his studies in Prague with the celebrated Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková. Following several years spent in Milan, Oxford, and London, he now makes his home in Prague.

In recognition of his contributions to the classical music field, Mahan Esfahani was awarded the 2022 Wigmore Hall Prize.

Booklet for Bach: The Complete Keyboard Concertos