‘The happy years’: an expression that is particularly apt for J. S. Bach’s period in Cöthen. Freed from the obligations that held him back in Weimar and not yet caught up in the Leipzig treadmill, Prince Leopold’s protégé produced masterpieces of such flamboyance that Benjamin Alard could not resist the pleasure of inviting some of his dear musician friends to join him around the splendid three-manual harpsichord by Hass.
CD 1
Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor BWV 903
Ré mineur / d-Moll
· I. Fantasia (6'10)
· II. Fugue (5'03)
English Suite No. 6 in D minor BWV 811
Ré mineur / d-Moll
· I. Prélude (8'43)
· II. Allemande (4'03)
· III. Courante (2'42)
· IV. Sarabande - Double (2'42)
· V. Gavottes I & II (3'44)
· VI. Gigue (3'28)
Concerto in C major BWV 984
Do majeur / C-Dur (after Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar's Violin Concerto in C major, Op. 1 No. 4)
· I. [no tempo indication] (2'58)
· II. Adagio e affettuoso (2'13)
· III. Allegro assai (2'33)
Amore traditore BWV 203
Secular cantata on an anonymous libretto
· I. Aria "Amore traditore" (6'01)
· II. Recitative "Voglio provar" (0'44)
· III. Aria "Chi in amore ha nemica la sorte" (5'41) CD 2
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major BWV 1050
Ré majeur / D-Dur
·I. Allegro (10'06)
· II. Affettuoso (5'36)
· III. Allegro (5'21)
English Suite No. 3 in G minor BWV 808
Sol mineur / g-Moll
· I. Prélude (3'39)
· II. Allemande (3'24)
· III. Courante (2'48)
· IV. Sarabande (3'22)
· V. Gavotte I (alternativamente) - Gavotte II (ou la Musette) (4'26)
· VI. Gigue (2'58)
English Suite No. 5 in E minor BWV 810
Mi mineur / e-Moll
· I. Prélude (5'30)
· II. Allemande (3'58)
· III. Courante (2'31)
· IV. Sarabande (2'52)
· V. Passepied I (en Rondeau) - Passepied II (4'12)
· VI. Gigue (3'03)
