Francesco Tristano - Bach: The 6 French Suites (2026) [Hi-Res] [Dolby Atmos]

Tracklist

01. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: I. Allemande
02. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: II. Courante
03. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: III. Sarabande
04. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: IV. Menuet I
05. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: V. Menuet II
06. French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: VI. Gigue
07. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: I. Allemande
08. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: II. Courante
09. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: III. Sarabande
10. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: IV. Air
11. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: V. Menuet (I)
12. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: VI. Menuet (II, VWV 813a)
13. French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: VII. Gigue
14. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: I. Allemande
15. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: II. Courante
16. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: III. Sarabande
17. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: IV. Anglaise
18. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: V. Menuet I
19. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: VI. Menuet II (Trio)
20. French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: VII. Gigue
21. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: I. Allemande
22. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: II. Courante
23. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: III. Sarabande
24. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: IV. Gavotte
25. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: V. Air
26. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: VI. Menuet
27. French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: VII. Gigue
28. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: I. Allemande
29. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: II. Courante
30. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: III. Sarabande
31. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: IV. Gavotte
32. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: V. Bourrée
33. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VI. Loure
34. French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816: VII. Gigue
35. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: I. Prélude
36. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: II. Allemande
37. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: III. Courante
38. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: IV. Sarabande
39. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: V. Gavotte
40. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VI. Menuet polonais
41. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VII. Petit Menuet
42. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VIII. Bourrée
43. French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: IX. Gigue

The fourth stage of Francesco Tristano’s Bach journey with naïve is the complete set of six French Suites (BWV 812–817, c. 1722–1725).

The cycle of six French Suites remains the first through which this Luxembourg pianist immersed himself deeply and enduringly in Bach, admiring as he does their quiet beauty and curious serenity. For him, the French Suites are lyrical and melodic yet also incisive, as if imbued with vivid spontaneity, and without the slightest hint of haste.

Density through compression is perhaps the true aim of the French Suites - after the expansion of forms at work in the six English Suites (the only earlier surviving set of French-style suites by J. S. Bach; see naïve V 8828, 2025) - before we reach the miraculous synthesis achieved in the first part of the Clavier-Übung (the six Partitas; naïve V 8619, 2024).

The complete set of six French Suites often leaves performers somewhat disconcerted, and few performers play it in its entirety. Its spareness and almost ingenuous simplicity conceal the quintessence of aesthetic form. The restrained writing and the radical brevity of its ideas and motifs belie a subtle chemistry of contrasts, for example in the Suite in E major, BWV 817.

This gem, comprising nine finely balanced movements, offers an almost unique overview of the Baroque dance repertoire (Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte, Bourrée, Gigue, Menuet polonais, Petit Menuet {à la française}). Francesco Tristano performs the revised version of the Suite, prefaced by the Prelude in E major from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier.

In this new stage of his journey with Bach - a composer whose complete keyboard works he ultimately hopes to record - Francesco Tristano favours a really warm sound, very soft, underscoring the more intimate tone of the collection (Suite BWV 814, Allemande; Suite BWV 815, Sarabande; Suite BWV 813, Air, for example), in marked contrast to the more trumpet-like atmospheres that emerged from the double album comprising the six English Suites, for instance, released in Spring 2025.