Annette Bartholdy, Benjamin Engeli – Johann Sebastian Bach/Arvo Pärt: Works for Viola and Piano CD

Annette Bartholdy and Benjamin Engeli combine Bach’s wonderful Sonatas BWV 1027-1029 (originally written for Viola da Gamba) with two pieces by Estonian cult composer Arvo Pärt (*1935). Bach and Pärt are very close in many respects. On the one hand, in their mastery of compositional technique and, on the other, in their genius for putting this at the service of the highest spiritual expression.
The three gamba sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach have been played on a wide variety of instruments over the course of time and have found the most diverse forms – just like the two pieces “Spiegel im Spiegel” and “Fratres” by Arvo Pärt. Apart from the contrast that the two composers present simply because of their different eras, the changeability of the pieces is not the only thing they have in common: both Bach and Pärt always have a spiritual statement at the centre. This was the central point for violist Annette Bartholdy and her piano accompanist Benjamin Engeli in the conception of their current album.