Bach & Enescu

In this edition of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival radio series, Joel Link – first violinist of the Dover Quartet and concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra – brings J. S. Bach’s immaculate and vibrant Violin Concerto in A Minor to life. “One of the wonderful things about Bach as an artist and as a creator,” declares harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon, “is that each of us can see our own image in Bach’s music if we take the time to explore it. They’re timeless in that way.” To close out the program, violinist Chad Hoopes leads a stellar group of Festival musicians in Enescu’s sensational, grand and dramatic Octet. “What strikes me about this Octet by Enescu is the polarity of it. … It’s like a symphonic poem” says the Escher Quartet’s violist Pierre Lapointe. His colleague cellist Brook Speltz agrees, and calls Enescu’s teenage achievement “one of the most effective pieces we have in the repertoire.”