In Bach’s time, the terms “suite” and “overture” were often used interchangeably. This was because the first movement of a suite was generally a French Overture and tended to dominate the entire work. Bach himself referred to his four orchestral suites as “overtures.” The four overtures which open each of Bach’s four orchestral suites are among his most majestic achievements. The custom of rounding off the grandiose Baroque overtures with a string of dances and other light pieces was perhaps suggested by popular Rococo suites of dances for chamber or keyboard instruments. A musician’s musician, an occasional firebrand and a constant paradox – Nikolaus Harnoncourt (born in 1929) is one of the most profound and intriguing conductors of our time. Considered one of the world’s leading specialists of Baroque music, he has long since turned his attention to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and even to Jacques Offenbach and Johann Strauss. He spent many years as a cellist with the Wiener Symphoniker before founding the “Concentus Musicus Wien” with his wife Alice in 1953. It soon became one of the world’s most respected ensembles specializing in the performance of early music on original instruments. In the 1970s, Harnoncourt joined forces with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to stage a series of Monteverdi operas at the Zurich Opera House. This universally acclaimed cycle contributed to a renaissance of Monteverdi’s music and set standards for early Baroque performance practice. He later began to turn his attention more and more to the music of Mozart, whom he considers “the most romantic of all composers”. Harnoncourt did not make his official debut at the Salzburg Festival until 1992. He has been conducting there regularly since then and is a sought-after guest conductor of such reputable ensembles as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

“This concerto is generally considered as a genuine triple concerto for violin and two flutes. In my opinion, it is purely a violin concerto, and the most virtuoso one Bach ever wrote. Musicologists always had their problems with the two flutes. Bach designated them as ‘Flauti d’echo’, and there have been all kinds of theories as to what instruments he could have meant. No one thought of looking for the explanation in the music itself. Bach always uses the term ‘flauto’ for the recorder, and ‘d’echo’ means nothing else than that the two recorders leave their seats in the orchestra in the slow movement, which is built around an echo effect, and play from another point in the room or outside of it, but in any case from a distance. Strong evidence supporting this theory is found at the beginning of the last movement, where the tutti plays without the recorders, so as to give them enough time to get back to their seats. ” (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, named after their dedicatee the Margrave Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg, have been part of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s permanent repertoire ever since he founded his Concentus musicus ensemble. The ensemble has recorded them and played them on their tours throughout the world. The impulse which led Harnoncourt to establish the Concentus musicus in 1953 was his dissatisfaction with the traditional way of interpreting early music. The uncommon and sometimes radically different style of the Concentus musicus, as well as its exclusive use of historical instruments, secured the ensemble its international reputation. Harnoncourt introduces the concerto with a moving and fascinating analysis of the piece. Interesting musical examples, which Harnoncourt inserts in a humorous and relaxed manner, make this introduction an informative and entertaining guide to this masterpiece of music. The production was filmed in the historical Baroque monastery library in Wiblingen, Germany.