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The Well-Tempered Clavier – Book I
Johann Sebastian Bach

Alessandro Deljavan

The Well-Tempered Clavier – Book I

Price: € 22.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917200812
Catnr: CC 720081
Release date: 05 February 2027
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2 CD
€ 22.95
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917200812
Catalogue number
CC 720081
Release date
05 February 2027
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

For acclaimed Italian pianist Alessandro Deljavan, Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier is far more than a masterpiece of keyboard literature: it is a lifelong conversation with one of music’s most extraordinary minds. Having first explored Bach’s Preludes and Fugues as a young child, Deljavan now brings decades of curiosity, experience, and artistic freedom to all 24 Preludes and Fugues of Book I. His interpretation reveals the remarkable independence of Bach’s musical voices, transforming intricate counterpoint into a vivid dialogue of ideas, emotions, and endless possibilities.

What makes this recording particularly fascinating is Deljavan’s decision to perform on a modern Steinway Model D tuned to 415 Hz, rather than today's standard 440 Hz. This deliberate artistic experiment opens up unexpected colours, expressive contrasts, and new perspectives on familiar harmonies. Rather than attempting a historical reconstruction, Deljavan invites listeners to rediscover Bach through a different way of hearing. Following his acclaimed C. P. E. Bach album The Hidden Legacy, this deeply personal recording offers a fresh encounter with music that never stops revealing its secrets.

Artist(s)

Alessandro Deljavan (piano)

Italian pianist Alessandro Deljavan has been astonishing audiences for more than two decades. Acknowledgements began at the age of nine when he won the prestigious Concours musical de France (1st Prize, Paris, 1996). He is embraced for his remarkable prowess and emotional intensity by audiences and colleagues alike. “Deljavan played Chopin’s B minor Etude with jaw dropping virtuosity and heart-stopping eloquence.” —Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News A prolific recording artist, Alessandro Deljavan has recorded more than 70 albums from the solo and chamber music repertoire. Of his recording of the Chopin complete Études Pizzicato.lu wrote: “Technically brilliant and with an exceptional imagination, Alessandro Deljavan brings finesse and spontaneity to Chopin’s Etudes.” “A concert which only confirms the genuine talent and colossal power of this Italian...
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Italian pianist Alessandro Deljavan has been astonishing audiences for more than two decades. Acknowledgements began at the age of nine when he won the prestigious Concours musical de France (1st Prize, Paris, 1996). He is embraced for his remarkable prowess and emotional intensity by audiences and colleagues alike.

“Deljavan played Chopin’s B minor Etude with jaw dropping virtuosity and heart-stopping eloquence.” —Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News

A prolific recording artist, Alessandro Deljavan has recorded more than 70 albums from the solo and chamber music repertoire. Of his recording of the Chopin complete Études Pizzicato.lu wrote:

“Technically brilliant and with an exceptional imagination, Alessandro Deljavan brings finesse and spontaneity to Chopin’s Etudes.”

“A concert which only confirms the genuine talent and colossal power of this Italian pianist who we’d like to hear more often in Brussels.” —les chroniques du piano

Born of an Italian mother and Persian father, Alessandro Deljavan began learning to play piano before the age of two and gave his first performances at age three.

He has since performed around the world in more than 20 countries including in Austria, Belgium, China, Columbia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

“Deljavan’s performance was revelatory in every respect. Everyone in the hall knew that they were hearing something special—something wonderful—from the very first notes. At the end, the spontaneous eruption of cheers was so different from the perfunctory ovation that any decent performance is awarded, that being a part of the thrilled crowd was a unique experience in itself.” —Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, Theater Jones

“Alessandro Deljavan performed in the most stunningly beautiful and expressive way that no one who was there will forget—it was simply world class!” —Sverker Magnusson, Arvika News

Alessandro Deljavan has won top prizes in competitions including Concours musical de France (1st Prize, Paris, 1996), Hummel Competition (2nd Prize, Bratislava, 2005), Gina Bachauer Young Artist Competition (5th Prize, 2005), Cliburn Competition (John Giordano Discretionary Award, 2009), Isangyun Competition (2nd Prize, Tongyeong, South Korea, 2010), and Cliburn Competition (Raymond E. Buck Discretionary Award, 2013).

Alessandro has performed with orchestras such as the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra (St. Petersburg, Russia), the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Fort Worth, Texas, USA), the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Milan, Italy), Orchestra Sinfonica Leopolis (Atri, Italy), Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento (tour in Italy & Slovakia), Israel Camerata Orchestra (Tel Aviv, Israel), Wu Han Philharmonic Orchestra (Wu Han, China), and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (Vilnius, Lithuania), the Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu (Sibiu, Romania), among others.

He has appeared at festivals such as the Festival International Piano Classique de Biarritz (Biarritz, France), Festival Chopin à Paris (Paris, France), Piano Intime Series (Montpellier, France), Glafsfjordens musikfestival (Arvika, Sweden), Bologna Festival (Bologna, Italy), Il Festival Piano Master (Gravedona, Italy), Orta Festival (Lago d’Orta, Italy), Gradus International Piano Festival (Aarhus, Denmark), Franz Liszt Festival (Albano Laziale, Italy), Festival Città di Morbegno (Morbegno, Italy), Festival Internazionale di Lapedona (Lapedona, Italy), Autunno Musicale (Como, Italy), the Bogotà International Piano Festival (Bogotà, Colombia) and Tippet Rise (Montana, USA).

His chamber music partners have included the Takács Quartet, the Sine Nomine Quartet and the Brentano Quartet, Alissa Margulis (violin), and Alexander Buzlov (cello). He has toured extensively with the violinist Daniela Cammarano with whom he has recorded several albums for the Aevea, Brilliant Classics and Onclassical labels. Extending his chamber music into the formation of a trio, Alessandro has begun a collaboration with the cellist Amedeo Cicchese who along with Daniela Cammarano form Trio Laetitia with a debut recording on the Artalinna label.

Alessandro has appeared in films such as ‘Franz Liszt: The Pilgrimage Years’ (RAI – Italian TV), ‘Virtuosity’ (Cliburn / PBS), and numerous live broadcasts on European radio. The live webcasts from the Cliburn competitions (2009 & 2013) were seen by over a million viewers in 155 countries.

In 2021 Alessandro inaugurated his own imprint, the AERAS Music Group, for which he has released the Bach Goldberg Variations, and an album of works by Liszt.

Alessandro Deljavan has a discography of over 70 albums with the Stradivarius, Brilliant Classics, Onclassical, Aevea, Naxos, Tactus and Piano Classics labels. A new release coming in 2024 marks his debut recording on period keyboard in an album of J.S. Bach and J.C. Bach. He performs on a forte piano from 1770 with Federico Bracalente playing Violincello Piccolo in the three Gamba Sonatas of J.S. Bach and a solo keyboard sonata of J.C. Bach. The album is being released on Evil Penguin Classics, also a new label for Deljavan.

On Youtube, his recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes has received more than 1,300,000 streams to date.

Alessandro Deljavan graduated from the Conservatorio Statale di Musica Giuseppe Verdi (Milano, 2003) and the Istituto Gaetano Braga (Teramo, 2006). From 2005 – 2013 he was among the select young artists attending the International Piano Academy at Lake Como, Italy under the tutelage of the Academy’s artistic director, William Grant Naboré. In addition, he has taken part in courses at the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Festival dell Nazioni at Città di Castello and the Ottorino Respighi Foundation on St. George Island, Venice, Italy.

His teachers include Valentina Chiola, Piotr Lachert, Ricardo Risaliti, Enrico Belli, Eugenio Bagnoli, Lazar Berman, William Grant Naboré, Dimitri Bashkirov, Laurent Boullet, Fou Ts’ong, Dominique Merlet, John Perry, Menahem Pressler, Claude Frank, Richard Goode, and Andreas Staier.

He is currently Artistic Director of the Opera Master school in Villamagna founded in 2021 and Professor of Piano at the U. Giordano Conservatory of Music, Rodi Garganico, Italy. Alessandro Deljavan joins the faculty at the International Piano Academy at Lake Como giving a master class in May of 2024.


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Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.  Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.  
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.


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Disc #1
01.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in C Major, BWV 846
02:41
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
02.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in C Major, BWV 846
02:01
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
03.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in C Minor, BWV 847
01:44
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
04.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847
01:33
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
05.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
01:22
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
06.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
02:22
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
07.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
04:05
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
08.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
03:22
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
09.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in D Major, BWV 850
01:41
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
10.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in D Major, BWV 850
02:06
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
11.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in D Minor, BWV 851
01:41
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
12.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in D Minor, BWV 851
02:13
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
13.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in E-Flat Major, BWV 852
05:23
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
14.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 852
01:48
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
15.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853
03:57
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
16.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in D-Sharp Minor, BWV 853
06:59
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
17.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in E Major, BWV 854
01:23
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
18.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in E Major, BWV 854
01:07
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
19.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in E Minor, BWV 855
02:30
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
20.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in E Minor, BWV 855
01:20
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
21.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in F Major, BWV 856
01:07
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
22.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in F Major, BWV 856
01:15
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
23.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in F Minor, BWV 857
02:33
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
24.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in F Minor, BWV 857
04:28
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan

Disc #2
01.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858
01:44
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
02.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in F-Sharp Major, BWV 858
02:04
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
03.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859
01:02
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
04.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in F-Sharp Minor, BWV 859
04:21
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
05.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in G Major, BWV 860
00:53
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
06.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in G Major, BWV 860
03:00
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
07.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in G Minor, BWV 861
02:33
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
08.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in G Minor, BWV 861
01:37
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
09.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in A-Flat Major, BWV 862
01:15
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
10.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in A-Flat Major, BWV 862
02:32
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
11.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863
01:29
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
12.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, BWV 863
02:38
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
13.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in A Major, BWV 864
01:21
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
14.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in A Major, BWV 864
02:41
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
15.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in A Minor, BWV 865
01:17
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
16.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in A Minor, BWV 865
06:00
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
17.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
01:15
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
18.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866
01:47
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
19.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
02:37
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
20.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in B-Flat Minor, BWV 867
03:36
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
21.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in B Major, BWV 868
01:15
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
22.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in B Major, BWV 868
02:06
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
23.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Prelude in B Minor, BWV 869
05:10
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
24.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Fugue in B Minor, BWV 869
09:01
(Johann Sebastian Bach) Alessandro Deljavan
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