Leonidas Kavakos' New Single, "Bach Violin Concertos"

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos has released a new single, Bach Violin Concertos, on Sony Classical featuring the second movement, "Largo," from JS Bach's Concerto in G Minor with members of The ApollΩn Ensemble.

Kavakos has had a long relationship with the music of JS Bach, serving as a major inspiration for him as a musician. He stopped performing Bach's music in public to reexamine his baroque technique and approach to the music. Kavakos returned to the music of Bach in 2022 with his complete recording of Bach's Partitas and Sonatas for Solo Violin on Sony Classical.

Continuing with his reexamination of Bach's music, Kavakos has now turned to the composer's four solo violin concertos which combine German and Italian instrumental styles. Experimenting with instrumentation, the final version resulted in just five string players and a harpsichordist in collaboration with The ApollΩn Ensemble. Kavakos' choice of bow was an early 1800s model of a François Tourte along with his 1734 Willemotte Stradivarius.

"You couldn’t get more intimate with the music than this," shared Kavakos. "Using a single instrument for each of the ensemble parts creates "a particular harmonic and rhythmic world that both complements and enhances what everyone else is doing."