For Connoisseurs and Amateurs

"This music isn't meant to be played on a stage! It is intimate and personal. Very personal." said clavichordist Ingrid Eriksen in today's concert at Trondheim Art Museum. And then she encouraged the public to break up the concert atmosphere by moving their chairs around in the room.

Ingrid Eriksen is Norway's expert on CPE Bach (1714-1788), who was the son of JS Bach - and a great influence on Mozart and Haydn. CPE Bach composed in what was considered a "sensitive" or "sentimental" style. Ingrid illustrated this style by playing "Sechs Clavier-Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber" (Six Clavier sonatas for Connoisseurs and Amateurs) interspersed with recitation from the 1768 novel "A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy" by Laurence Sterne.

The intimacy of the performance was underscored by Ingrid's playing a clavichord - which is very quiet instrument, but also very expressive. In the period before the invention of the piano, the clavichord was the favored instrument of both Connoisseurs and Amateurs alike.

The concert was a collaboration between the Trondheim Centre for Early Music, Trondheim Art Museum and Ringve Music Museum.