The penultimate concert in the Valletta International Baroque Festival series was a recital of Bach’s keyboard music. The venue for this concert was the Sala Isouard, part of the 17th-century Bonici Palace which now forms part of the foyer to the Manoel Theatre.
The well-structured programme, given by the young Maltese pianist Joanne Camilleri, traced Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical development from his student days in Arnstadt, when he was 19, all the way to Leipzig, at the age of 50.
Today we have been accustomed to hearing the music in its original form for harpsichord. Since the 70s, there has been a move to historically informed performance on original instruments. The last two generations have forgotten the earlier performances of Rosalind Tureck. Joanne Camilleri is one of the younger generation of musicians who have had the opportunity to study the works and approach them from a historically informed perspective, allowing her to re-evaluate the elements of Baroque style.
The Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo, BWV 992, is one of the few authenticated works from Bach’s early years. Joanne Camilleri approached this work with charm and captured beautifully its youthful energy. Wonderfully clear, the performance lacked nothing in tonal warmth. A fine balance was struck between the necessary “improvisational” quality and an equally necessary sense of the music.
The second work was the English Suite no. 2, BWV 807, which was perfectly executed, with clear articulation and great dexterity. The slower movements showed a complete understanding of the nature of the music. Here the momentum of the piece moves forward with a seemingly faster pace, but remained beautifully controlled.