Bach, a poet? In our day and age, this statement sounds surreal, and seems to reek of nostalgia. How could it be otherwise? After all, nearly two centuries have passed from the time Schumann uttered these words, centuries in which a comprehensive exegesis of interpretation has evolved whose discoveries and principles are part and parcel of today’s Bach reception – headed by intensive efforts at keeping faithful to the original and the “correct” performing style, informed by a comprehensive knowledge of Baroque performance practice.

From this perspective, the album presented here must appear anachronistic, since its music takes us back to an epoch in which Bach was played in a free, occasionally downright carefree, style. What no one would permit themselves today was modern back then: a sense of theatrical effects, an exuberant dynamic richness and a rather elastic perception of the metrical element, as was simply in accordance with the Romantic attitude toward life.