Aapo Häkkinen, harpischord
Les Voix humaines, Viol Consort (Contrapunctus inversus XII)
Anna Gebert, Violin (Contrapunctus inversus XIII)
“[Bach] speaks to us in his work in such clear terms that we may quite well call these fugues poems. (…) These have warmth, quiet joy, love. And running through all the poems, dressed in different guises, is the main theme, creating order, binding the work as a whole together: it is a safe bond in all its diversity. Over all lies the proximity of death.” (Enzio Forsblom) In this new recording, Bach’s final magnum opus is played by Aapo Häkkinen on a harpsichord built in 1614 by Andreas Ruckers the Elder (1579-?1652) which belonged to the composer John Blow (1649-1708), organist of Westminster Abbey and former teacher of Henry Purcell. A tradition exists that G.F. Handel had also played this harpsichord.
In this recording, the order of the movements is based on the original autograph version of The Art of Fugue. Even while using the text of the revised late version - incorporating some of the most heart-rending music ever written, such as Contrapunctus IV and the beginning of Contrapunctus X - the original order of performance of c.1742-1745 has been restored. Its structure displays the qualities of progression and symmetry characteristic of Bach’s other great monothematic cycles of the 1740s, and indeed of the decade-spanning Clavier-Übung cycle - of which The Art of Fugue may well be seen as the crowning final part. Between the main body of 11 fugues and the four canons there are the two mirror fugues. They form a bridge, as it were, between earth and heaven, while contrasting the antique consort style (Contrapunctus inversus XII) and the modern trio sonata style (Contrapunctus inversus XIII). Plainly not conceived for solo keyboard - unlike the rest of the cycle - they are played here by a viol consort and by a violin and harpsichord, respectively. After all, Buxtehude had used viols (according to the Düben Collection parts) in his poignant funeral Klag-Lied (BuxWV 76) in an inverted contrapuntal texture called Contrapunctus. In the trio texture, the violin assumes the upper solo part, as was Bach’s practice in clavier trios and in the Fuga canonica of The Musical Offering.
Aapo Häkkinen began his musical education as a chorister at Helsinki Cathedral. He took up the harpsichord at the age of thirteen, studying with Elina Mustonen and Olli Porthan (organ) at the Sibelius Academy. From 1995 to 1998 he studied with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory and from 1996 to 2000 with Pierre Hantaï in Paris, and also enjoyed the generous guidance and encouragement of Gustav Leonhardt. Immediately after obtaining his diploma in 1998, he won second prize and the VRT prize at the Bruges Harpsichord Competition. He was also awarded the Norddeutscher Rundfunk special prize Musikpreis 1997 for his interpretations of Italian music. Aapo Häkkinen has appeared as soloist and conductor in most European countries, in Turkey, Israel, Georgia, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, the USA, Brazil, and Mexico. He has recorded for the labels Aeolus, Alba, Avie, Cantus, Deux-Elles, Naxos, and Ondine. A frequent guest on both radio and television, he hosts his own programme on Classic FM in Finland. Besides the harpsichord, Aapo Häkkinen regularly performs on the organ, on the clavichord, and on the fortepiano. He teaches at the Sibelius Academy and at international masterclasses. He has been Artistic Director of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra since 2003.
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21 мар 2024
