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Mahan Esfahani plays Bach

Mahan Esfahani plays the 24 preludes and fugues from Book I of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, probably one of the most enduring works in all western music.

A prelude and fugue in every major and minor key intended to demonstrate a method of tuning a keyboard instrument and to help improve keyboard playing might have ended up as a very dull collection, indeed. But Johann Sebastian Bach produced one of the most enduring works of western music, a two-hour compendium of his musical genius. These 24 mini-masterpieces, performed by acclaimed, multi-award-wining harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, encompass a vast emotional range and give a compelling insight into Bach's ideas about individual keys' characteristics and moods.

Recorded last month at Wigmore Hall.

Presented by Martin Handley

JS Bach
The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

2 hours, 28 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 May 2021 19:30

Music Played

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Cello Sonata No 3 in C major, Op 102

    Performer: Daniel M眉ller鈥怱chott. Performer: Angela Hewitt.
    • Beethoven: Cello Sonata etc: Muller-Schott/Hewitt.
    • Hyperion.
    • 2.
  • Jean Sibelius

    Belshazzar's Feast Suite, Op 51

    Performer: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme J盲rvi.
    • BIS.

Broadcast

  • Wed 5 May 2021 19:30