This is a musical family affair,” says David Fray of this collection of
Bach’s concertos for two, three and four keyboards. The ‘family’
connection is that Fray, like Audrey Vigoureux and Emmanuel Christien,
is a former pupil of Jacques Rouvier, celebrated both as a soloist and
as a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. All four pianists participate
and collaborate on this album, which contains Bach’s entire canon of
concertos for multiple keyboard soloists, with the exception of the
Triple Concerto in C major.
David Fray’s Erato catalogue already includes a number of solo works and
concertos by Bach, and Jacques Rouvier joined him for duets on his
Schubert album Fantasie. Discussing his Bach, BBC Music Magazine
wrote: “Fray's touch is exactly nuanced, its technical control
aristocratically poised, producing sonorities of irresistibly pellucid
light and shade. And his rhythmic vitality is acute.” Fray himself has
spoken of Bach as “a pinnacle; both a beginning and an end”.
This recording – made in Toulouse’s beautiful and resonant Carmelite
Chapel, built in the 18th century – has its origins in a concert that
the four pianists gave in Montpellier in 2013, but here the string
ensemble comes from the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.
“These concertos are a joy for both the players and the listener,” says
David Fray. “They take their lead from the dance, and there is an
Italian quality in their flexibility of line.” During his time in
Weimar, Bach became fascinated by Italian string concertos and the
Concerto for Four Keyboards is an adaptation of a concerto for four
violins from Vivaldi’s famous collection L’estro armonico. “These concertos have an exceptional impact, energy and ‘bounce’ that
can be hard to capture on the modern piano,” continues Fray. “The
challenge is to take all the fat out of the sound – especially when you
have several pianos playing together – and to capture that dancing
Italian spirit with the help of lively articulation and an understanding
of the polyphony.”
Speaking of the Concerto for Four Keyboards, he says: “It is vital to
achieve the right balance and to create a single sound, not four
separate sounds. As pupils of Jacques Rouvier, we were always encouraged
to have a distinct personality, but here, while retaining our
individuality, we must find a zone where we can all come together … Four
sounds that make sense as one sound.
“This album is not about looking to create ‘something new’. As a
musician, you carry your vision with you, and with your sound you seek
to generate momentum and movement. It’s for the audience to decide if
you have produced something new and interesting.”