Bach Orchestral Suites

For its closing festival performance, LIFEM's Artistic Director, recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf joins forces with the Baltic Baroque Orchestra for a performance of JS Bach's Orchestral Suites.

Johann Sebastian Bach's four Orchestral Suites, known in his own manuscripts as Ouvertures, stand among the finest achievements of Baroque orchestral music. Probably composed and revised during Bach's years in Köthen and Leipzig, these works reveal a composer who absorbed the elegance of the French court style while enriching it with German contrapuntal mastery and his own inexhaustible imagination.

Each suite follows a pattern established by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully: a grand opening overture consisting of a stately dotted-rhythm introduction followed by a lively fugal section. Bach then presents a sequence of stylised dances, transforming forms originally associated with courtly entertainment into sophisticated concert music.

Erik Bosgraaf is generally considered to be one of the world's leading recorder players, and he is definitely the most adventurous. He improvises, plays jazz, utilises electronics and likes working with people in other areas of artistic endeavour such as cinematography (Werner Herzog, Paul and Menno de Nooijer). His repertoire extends from Vivaldi's Four Seasons to tomorrow's music. Bosgraaf's recording of Jacob van Eyck's Der Fluyten Lust-hof set a new standard and led to his international breakthrough. Many other hits followed, mainly for the Brilliant Classics label. Around 100 pieces have been composed for him, among which are 12 concertos.

The Baltic Baroque Orchestra is a new musical ensemble that had its first concerts at the 2024 Narva Opera Music Festival. The orchestra consists of the best musicians from the Baltic states who have mastered the performance of historical instruments. The orchestra also collaborates with the finest Baroque singers from Latvia and Lithuania. The core of the orchestra is formed by the Baroque orchestra Collegium Musicum Riga.

Programme:
JS Bach Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV 1066
Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Suite No. 4 in D major, BWV 1069

Performers:
Erik Bosgraaf recorder, harpsichord, director
Tomoe Badiarova violin (leader)
Baltic Baroque Orchestra

This concert is included in the LIFEM Festival Pass and LIFEM Saturday Day Pass.