In this concert, the second in this autumn’s ‘Bach in Istanbul’ festival, Russian cellist Ivan Skanavi, winner of the prestigious Grand-Prix Emanuel Feuermann Competition in 2022, is to play Bach’s Cello Suites Nos 1, 3 and 4. Ivan Skanavi began taking cello lessons at the age of six, subsequently studying with Alexey Seleznev and Alexander Rudin at the Moscow Conservatoire. He then moved to Germany to attend the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. Since April 2023, he has been studying at the Kronberg Academy with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.
Bach’s six suites for solo cello were probably composed during the years between 1717 and 1723, when he was serving as Kapellmeister in Köthen. Wikipedia: ‘As usual in a Baroque musical suite, after the prelude which begins each suite, all the other movements are based around baroque dance types. The cello suites are structured in six movements each: prelude, allemande, courante, sarabande, two minuets (or two bourrées or two gavottes) and a final gigue.’
The works to be performed on October 11 are the Suite No 1 in G major (BWV 1007, the prelude to this suite being the best-known movement of the entire set), the Suite No 3 in C major (BWV 1009) and the Suite No 4 in E flat major (BWV 1010).
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
