The album title "Spira, Spera" (Breathe, Hope) is a quote from Victor Hugo's novel "Notre-Dame de Paris" (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).
Composer's Artistic Vision
Pianist Emmanuel Despax views studying and performing Bach's music as a journey into a perfectly conceived, metaphysical universe without chaos, only beauty.
Cultural Impact
Biologist Lewis Thomas famously suggested sending the complete works of Bach on the Voyager Golden Records for potential aliens, stating, "But that would be boasting."
Interpretation
This album highlights transcriptions by pianists and composers like Liszt and Busoni, who revered Bach's music and arranged his organ and violin works for modern piano.
Compositional Technique
Theodor Szántó's transcriptions of Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor are described as "monumental and uncompromising," pushing the piano's and pianist's limits.
Recording & Production
The album was recorded on a Fazioli model 278 piano, provided by Jaques Samuel Pianos.
Performer Biography
Emmanuel Despax, the pianist on this album, began his piano studies in Aix-en-Provence before attending the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music in London.
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