Silbermann harpsichord

With the start of the anniversary season, our ensemble is enriched by a significant sonic facet: Thanks to a generous donation, a new oak harpsichord now stands in the continuo of the Gaechinger Cantorey. Not just any harpsichord, of course, but a replica of an instrument by Gottfried Silbermann, who, as the prominent builder of the model for our chamber organ, was already the godfather of our "centerpiece". Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Bach Academy are thus pursuing a consistent tonal refinement in the sense of that Central German tonal ideal which is increasingly attracting worldwide attention in the "Stuttgart Bach style".

At the same time, the instrument, the original of which is in the Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin (SIMPK), with its unique keyboard division model (as found only in Silbermann's work) and an extremely broad tonal spectrum from slender to full-toned - yet always balanced - points to that new style which already found its first expression in the music of Bach's sons. The harpsichord found its way to us in Stuttgart at the beginning of September 2021 after an adventurous journey from the workshop in Sochi via Moscow, St. Petersburg, Estonia and Poland. We would like to thank the harpsichord builder Max Doronin for his new "opus" as well as the keyboard artist Johannes Fiedler for his valuable advice. The new instrument will have its musical premiere in the subscription concerts with Haydn's "Creation" on October 22/24, 2021.