Grigoryan Brothers Bach Concertos CD

The Grigoryan Brothers return with an album of J.S. Bach's best-loved concertos, newly arranged for two guitars and orchestra.

The two great forces in J.S. Bach's life were music and family - somewhat inevitably, for a man who had twenty children. Bach first wrote the concertos on this disc as a young composer finding his place in the world, seeking to establish both his musical and personal identity. But they stayed with him throughout his life: he adapted them for different instruments, performed them with his sons, and used them to pass down his musical and life experiences.

So it is entirely fitting that two brothers, Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, have come together to play these works. The parallels are even more poignant considering their father, Edward, created the arrangements on this disc, and that early rehearsals of this material involved their parents (Edward on violin, Irina on viola) and Slava's wife Sharon (on cello).

The intimacy and eternity of Bach's music could hardly be better illustrated. This album follows on from the brilliant success of Slava's two recent albums of Bach cello suites arranged for solo guitar: albums that broke records for the longest time spent atop the ARIA Classical charts, and which both won the ARIA for Best Classical Album (2017 + 2018). It also continues the family tradition of their most recent album as a duo, 2017's Songs Without Words, which featured beloved classical works arranged for guitar duo by their father Edward.

Slava and Leonard are counted amongst the finest musicians of their generation, and between them have been awarded four ARIA awards and received an incredible further 24 nominations, confirming their status as Australia's favourite guitarists.