«Préludes choisis»
Set in relief against Chopin’s Préludes (completed in 1839), Johann Sebastian Bach’s Preludes of 1722 are seen here as if through the prism of Romantism. This fact also influenced the choice of the instrument. In Chopin’s time, the harpsichord of the “olden days” was long forgotten, and Bach’s rediscovered works were played exclusively on the fortepiano.
The instrument of this recording is an original fortepiano made by the famous french company “Erard” in 1850.
Jean Goverts has chosen to play Bach’s and Chopin’s Preludes in the same keys respectively. It seems, that Bachs music had both a calming and invigorating effect on Chopin’s sensitive psyche, especially when he had to perform in public. Whenever he did manage to force himself to give a recital, he prepared himself not by practising the pieces he intended to play, but by playing Bach’s music instead, beginning two weeks before the concert date. That must have given him power, peace and clarity, since he compared the structure of Bach’s work with “perfectly drawn geometrical figures in which everything is at its place and no line is superfluous.”
Jean Goverts, born in The Hague, Netherlands, is an internationally known pianist and harpsichordist. He has taught harpsichord, pianoforte, clavichord and basso continuo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis of the Music Academy in Basle / Switzerland. Jean Goverts has made various recordings of works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christian Bach, Johann Schobert, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. In recent years, he has especially dedicated himself to the interpretation of works by romantic composers, particularly Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, on historical instruments. The 18th century has his particular interest; not only the music of that period, but also the architecture, the painting and the decorative arts.