Get together with people who love music after this Weill Recital Hall concert for a free drink and discussion with the evening's musicians.
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Although the organ was Bach’s principal instrument, he was a better-than-average violinist and violist as well. In his later years, he was frequently found at Zimmermann’s popular coffeehouse in Leipzig, conducting the resident collegium musicum ensemble from the concertmaster’s stand. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach told his father’s biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, that the elder Bach “understood to perfection the possibilities of all stringed instruments.” The younger Bach quoted an eminent violinist of the time as remarking that “he had seen nothing more perfect for learning to be a good violinist and could suggest nothing better to anyone eager to learn,” than Bach’s six sonatas and partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006). The same can be said of the half-dozen sonatas for violin and harpsichord, BWV 1014–1019, that Bach composed as a set around the same time as the solo works. Four of these chamber music masterpieces are featured on this evening’s program, together with the suite-like Violin Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1023.
Amandine Beyer has been recognized for her standard-setting interpretations of Baroque violin repertoire. Her recording of Bach’s sonatas and partitas, BWV 1001–1006, from 2012 won awards from international critics, including the Diapason d’Or, Choc de Classica, and Grands Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros. She also performed in the acclaimed Partita 2, a choreographed duet by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and featuring Boris Charmatz.
Ms. Beyer splits her time among her solo career, her ensemble Gli Incogniti, and orchestral performances. She plays frequently in the most important halls and festivals worldwide, such as the Théâtre de la Ville, Théâtre du Châtelet, BOZAR, Festival de Sable, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. She has collaborated with Les Cornets Noirs, Pierre Hantaï, Kristian Bezuidenhout, and Laurence Beyer. With Gli Incogniti, she has released several albums, including Apothéoses: Monsieur Couperin, Corelli: The Complete Concerti Grossi, Vivaldi: Les Quatre Saisons, and Matteis: False Consonances of Melancholy. Ms. Beyer has made regular appearances with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Les Siècles, Collegium Vocale Gent, Ensemble 415, Le Concert Français, Academia Montis Regalis, Al Ayre Español, Ensemble Jacques Moderne, and Collegium 1704, among others.
Beyond the stage, Ms. Beyer’s other passion is teaching. She has led courses at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo in Porto, Portugal, and around the world, including lessons and master classes in France, Taiwan, Brazil, the US, and Canada. Since 2010, she has been professor of Baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland.
Pierre Hantaï became passionate about the music of Bach around the age of 10. Thanks to the influence of Gustav Leonhardt, he began to study the harpsichord—at first alone, then guided by American teacher Arthur Haas. Mr. Hantaï gave his first concerts at an early age, some as a soloist and others with his brothers Marc Hantaï (traverso flute) and Jérôme Hantaï (viola da gamba). He then spent two years studying in Amsterdam with Mr. Leonhardt, who subsequently invited him to perform under his direction. In the years that followed, Mr. Hantaï collaborated with many musicians, among them Philippe Herreweghe, the Kuijken brothers, and Marc Minkowski.
Today, Mr. Hantaï performs around the world as a soloist, often appearing as a guest with Jordi Savall. He also reunites with friends in chamber-music concerts, including performances with Skip Sempé, Amandine Beyer, Olivier Fortin, and Jean-Guihen Queyras. His extensive discography for the Mirare label includes five discs devoted to Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas and a highly praised recording of Bach sonatas—awarded a Diapason d’Or—that features his brother Marc Hantaï.
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