Across the series, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is challenging mainstream ideas of what's 'right' or 'wrong' in how Bach's music is performed. In this episode he pays tribute to the eternal outsiders of ‘polite’ Bach performance — those either ahead of their time in terms of unearthing historically informed methods, or who were not accepted after changing trends left them behind.

Mahan asks why Bach’s music is subjected to such rigid codification, and makes the case for an early Otto Klemperer recording of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 that features a soprano saxophone playing the solo trumpet part. He digs out a rare Nadia Boulanger record from the 1930s with a Romanticised orchestral style that doesn’t pass much muster these days, and shares a brilliant modern-day live recording by a pianist going against the grain, Grigory Sokolov.

Produced by Chris Elcombe.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3. Show less