Bob Van Asperen - J.S. Bach: Die Kunst der Fuga - The Art of Fugue (2018) [Hi-Res]

Did you perhaps also think that the Art of Fugue was a mathematical-abstract work, possibly something cumbersome, an unfinished “cycle of death”? Banish that from your mind...

With his great sense for sound, harpsichord grandmaster Bob van Asperen makes it clear that this work is to be approached with just as much harpsichordistic joy of playing as Bach’s other keyboard works. For him there is no doubt that it is a cycle completed by Bach, to be played on no instrument other than the harpsichord. The very seldom heard harpsichord by Christian Zell from 1741, recorded in SACD sound in the large St. George’s Church in East Frisian Weener, serves Bob van Asperen as the ideal partner for transparent, sensitive timbre. For the duets, van Asperen is joined by his former pupil Bernhard Klapproth, who is today likewise a sought-after keyboard virtuoso..

The booklet text, which even for AEOLUS is exceptionally comprehensive, deals with many questions and takes clear positions on this legendary and at the same time still much discussed work.

Bob van Asperen, harpsichord