BORBÁLA DOBOZY, PIERRE HANTAÏ & AURA MUSICALE Presented by Liszt Academy

“In its time, the clavecin was rarely smuggled onto the concert podium; this thin-sounding tool was a specialized chamber instrument, used solely in chambers, that is to say, in rooms.” Much has changed since Béla Bartók’s 1912 article ‘Performing works written for harpsichord’. These days the clavecin, or harpsichord, enjoys equal rights on the concert platform; in fact, it more of a surprise when someone plays any early repertoire on the piano. The Liszt Academy has been teaching harpsichord as a major since 1970. The senior lecturer in the department is Borbála Dobozy, who along with harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï and Aura Musical, put on a joint recital in November focusing on Johann Sebastian Bach concertos for double harpsichord. It is known that in the 1730s Bach transcribed for himself and his sons these rarely performed compositions from his earlier works for Collegium Musicum assemblies held in Café Zimmermann in Leipzig. In addition, there is a performance of the 5th Brandenburg concerto, dating from his period while Bach was resident in Köthen; it was the first ever concerto in music history to use a solo keyboard instrument.