Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Christophe Rousset

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1:
• 1 Prelude No. 1 en Ut, BWV 846 02:19
• 2 Fugue No. 1 en Ut, BWV 846 02:06
• 3 Prelude No. 2 en Do Mineur, BWV 847 01:28
• 4 Fugue No. 2 en Do Mineur, BWV 847 01:57
• 5 Prelude No. 3 en Do Dièse, BWV 848 01:32
• 6 Fugue No. 3 en Do Dièse, BWV 848 02:40
• 7 Prelude No. 4 en Do Dièse Mineur, BWV 849 02:37
• 8 Fugue No. 4 en Do Dièse Mineur, BWV 849 04:25
• 9 Prelude No. 5 en Ré, BWV 850 01:23
• 10 Fugue No. 5 en Ré, BWV 850 01:58
• 11 Prelude No. 6 en Ré Mineur, BWV 851 01:35
• 12 Fugue No. 6 en Ré Mineur, BWV 851 02:22
• 13 Prelude No. 7 en Mi Bémol, BWV 852 05:28
• 14 Fugue No. 7 en Mi Bémol, BWV 852 01:51
• 15 Prelude No. 8 en Ré Dièse Mineur, BWV 853 02:46
• 16 Fugue No. 8 en Ré Dièse Mineur, BWV 853 06:47
• 17 Prelude No. 9 en Mi, BWV 854 01:40
• 18 Fugue No. 9 en Mi, BWV 854 01:22
• 19 Prelude No. 10 en Mi Mineur, BWV 855 02:06
• 20 Fugue No. 10 en Mi Mineur, BWV 855 01:24
• 21 Prelude No. 11 en Fa, BWV 856 01:08
• 22 Fugue No. 11 en Fa, BWV 856 01:21
• 23 Prelude No. 12 en Fa Mineur, BWV 857 01:58
• 24 Fugue No. 12 en Fa Mineur, BWV 857 04:50
• 25 Prelude No. 13 en Fa Dièse, BWV 858 01:59
• 26 Fugue No. 13 en Fa Dièse, BWV 858 02:35
• 27 Prelude No. 14 en Fa Dièse Mineur, BWV 859 01:11
• 28 Fugue No. 14 en Fa Dièse Mineur, BWV 859 03:48
• 29 Prelude No. 15 en Sol, BWV 860 01:03
• 30 Fugue No. 15 en Sol, BWV 860 03:00
• 31 Prelude No. 16 en Sol Mineur, BWV 861 02:10
• 32 Fugue No. 16 en Sol Mineur, BWV 861 02:40
• 33 Prelude No. 17 en La Bémol, BWV 862 01:26
• 34 Fugue No. 17 en La Bémol, BWV 862 02:52
• 35 Prelude No. 18 en Sol Dièse Mineur, BWV 863 01:48
• 36 Fugue No. 18 en Sol Dièse Mineur, BWV 863 03:26
• 37 Prelude No. 19 en La, BWV 684 01:24
• 38 Fugue No. 19 en La, BWV 684 02:42
• 39 Prelude No. 20 en La Mineur, BWV 865 01:18
• 40 Fugue No. 20 en La Mineur, BWV 865 06:51
• 41 Prelude No. 21 en Si Bémol, BWV 866 01:22
• 42 Fugue No. 21 en Si Bémol, BWV 866 01:52
• 43 Prelude No. 22 en Si Bémol Mineur, BWV 867 03:07
• 44 Fugue No. 22 en Si Bémol Mineur, BWV 867 03:39
• 45 Prelude No. 23 en Si, BWV 868 01:23
• 46 Fugue No. 23 en Si, BWV 868 02:42
• 47 Prelude No. 24 en Si Mineur, BWV 869 03:34
• 48 Fugue No. 24 en Si Mineur, BWV 869 06:45
• Total Runtime 02:03:40

Info for Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Recording 'The Well-tempered Clavier' is a bit like climbing Everest, and this new recording by Christophe Rousset devoted to Book I has been eagerly awaited. With modesty and rigour, he gives a rich, varied interpretation of this monument to Art, revealing its secrets to us in a highly informative introductory text. Performed on the magnificent Rückers harpsichord at the Château of Versailles, Nicolas Bartholomée's recording ideally reproduces the full, fruity savour of this instrument that has miraculously been preserved.

„[Rousset’s] is a grounded, incontestably considered reading, exuding a quiet, unflappable authority reminiscent of Gustav Leonhardt…he untangles Bach’s protean polyphony with the informed illumination of a seasoned tour guide steeped in his subject…particularly compelling are the massive fugues in A minor and B minor, magisterial, and plotted with long-limbed structural sophistication.“ (BBC Music Magazine)

„[Rousset places] a reliance on good fingers, very occasional well-chosen ornaments and canny but subtle agogic shaping governed by an underlying sense of steady but continuous flow…[it] makes a sound guide to these wonderful and varied works.“ (Gramophone Magazine)

Christophe Rousset, harpsichord

Christophe Rousset
the founder of the Les Talens Lyriques and an internationally renowned harpsichordist, is a musician and an orchestral conductor inspired by a passion for opera and the rediscovery of the European musical heritage.

After harpsichord studies at La Schola Cantorum in Paris with Huguette Dreyfus, followed by the Conservatoire Royal in The Hague with Bob van Asperen (winning, at the age of 22, the prestigious First Prize in the 7th Bruges Harpsichord Competition), and followed in turn by the creation of his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991, Christophe Rousset has a perfect grasp of the richness and diversity of the Baroque, Classical and Preromantic repertoires.

After initially attracting attention for his extraordinary talent as a harpsichordist, he soon made his mark as a conductor, with invitations from around the world to perform with his ensemble (Opéra de Paris, De Nederlandse Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro Real, Theater an der Wien, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Aix-en-Provence and Beaune Festivals, to name but a few venues).

Alongside this, he has continued to pursue an active career as harpsichordist and chamber musician, performing and recording on the most beautiful period instruments. His complete performances of the works for harpsichord of F. Couperin, Rameau, d’Anglebert and Forqueray and various recordings of pieces by J. S. Bach (Partitas, Variations Goldberg, Concertos for harpsichord, English Suites, French Suites, Klavierbüchlein) are considered landmarks. His most recent recording of another musical monument by the German Cantor, the 2nd book of the Well-tempered Clavier (Aparté) – a recording made in the Château of Versailles on a Joannes Ruckers harpsichord (1628) – has been awarded a number of honours, including a “Choc” from Classica magazine and CD of the week from Britain’s Radio 3. The instruments of the Paris Museum of Music have also been entrusted to him for the recording of three CDs of music by Royer, Rameau and Froberger.

Teaching is also an aspect with major importance for Christophe Rousset, who conducts and organises master classes and academies for young people (Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, CNSMDs Paris, Académie d’Ambronay, Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroques, Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Britten-Pears Orchestra) and he devotes himself with great energy, alongside the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques, to introducing young secondary school pupils in Paris and the surrounding region to the world of music.

Christophe also has a career as guest conductor (Liceu Barcelona, San Carlo Naples, La Scala Milan, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Orquesta Nacional de España and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, among other orchestras) as well as the active pursuit of musical research, with the production of critical editions and the publication by Actes Sud of a study on Rameau in 2007.

Christophe Rousset has been awarded the French honours of Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite.

Booklet for Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1