“The typical Bach Cello Suite starts with a Prelude, which means ‘before the game’ in Latin. And then follows six dance movements. And since the piece is all in one key – in this case, C major – Bach set out to do something that enough variety so that your wouldn’t notice that they are all in the same key. So each movement comes from a different country. The Allemande is German, as you can probably guess. The Courante is actually a ‘Corrente,’ which is Italian. The Sarabande is actually a Spanish dance (‘Zarabanda‘), in which the second beat is favored, and it’s the slowest of the dances. After that, comes two Bourrées, the ‘galantaries,’ which were danced in the French court. And finally comes the Gigue – the Jig – from Ireland. Let’s not hope the Jig is up!” – Laurence Lesser

L.L. stands both for “Living Legend” and “Larry Lesser,” the venerable cellist, pedagogue and two-time president of New England Conservatory, still on of the most in-demand teachers on the planet in his 80s.  And he still has a thing or two to share about Bach, as evidenced by this remarkable solo performance during his stint on the faculty of the 2021 Heifetz Institute. See, hear, and marvel at this legend in performance!