Alexander Grychtolik

Where were you born?

Berlin

Where do you live?

Weimar

Why did you start playing music?

I cannot remember, but I liked baroque music from the beginning  

What is your favourite instrument? 

Clavichord, but difficult to use in concerts…

What music did you listen to as a child? 

Ravel and Bach, later also Grieg, Chopin, and other classical composers. 

What was your first record?

I also cannot remember since we had a broad collection of vinyl records at home. But the first record was a self-made audio tape with Bach´s harpsichord concerts, copied from a CD or vinyl record.

What musical period would you like to live in? 

Baroque period, but in connection with the technical and medical standards of the 21st century. 

Where do you prefer to listen to music? 

Live…

Where can we find you when you are not making music?

Sitting in front of a computer screen or spending time with my small daughter 

Where did you study? 

Weimar, Brussels, and Hamburg

What awards have you received? 

I was never interested in prizes and competitions.

Who is your favourite composer?

It is probably surprising, but my favourite composer for harpsichord is not Bach, but Froberger because he makes more use of the harpsichord´s tonal possibilities combining French, Italian and German style

Which composer would you like the public to rediscover? 

I think a lot has been done in recent decades to rediscover good composers so it is hard to say…

What was your first recording?

As a student, I recorded some Bach pieces for clavichord and some cantatas, but the first official CD was baroque improvisation and works by C.P.E. Bach, Pasquini and Bertali on harpsichord with my wife Aleksandra

What is your favourite recording? (Passacaglia, with you)     

Mass in B-minor with Collegium Vocale Gent and Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi) 

What is your favourite Passacaille recording? (Passacaille, other artist)    

Handel. Claviorganum. Concertos & Sonatas

Who do you dream of recording with? (realistic or not)      

With Carolyn Sampson Bach’s solo cantatas for soprano and with my wife Aleksandra, Dimos De Beun, and Bart Coen (with whom we recorded the Passion Oratorio for Passacaille) the harpsichord concert with two recorders, BWV  1057.

Which piece have you never recorded but would like to? 

I would like to make a video production of Bach´s serenatas, which he performed originally on stage (BWV 66.1, BWV 134.1, and BWV 208) in historical costumes and gestures in a baroque castle with candlelight: To show how this music was presented originally. 

What do you do before a concert? 

Drinking tea with sugar and eating a banana and/or cheesecake

What do you do after a concert?  

Also eating but with my wife and friends or festival directors        

What would you do if you were not a musician? 

Architect