Not really, it’s just that at the moment I am only playing music composed in Dresden and that’s why I decided to choose the right cups for this interview [laughter].

Are you always so consistent?

Yes, completely.

Why this repertory composed in Dresden?

Because it is a new repertory and people are not familiar with it, and because it forms an essential part of German culture. I am convinced Dresden was Johann Sebastian Bach’s secret wish. He wanted to go there and he would have liked to compose for the king there. It is especially interesting to trace the lives of the composers who lived and worked in Dresden, the reasons why Bach didn’t go there, and why the king and queen never summoned him and he had to stay in Leipzig. The question as to why Bach never went to Dresden is with me continuously.

Despite Leipzig being much smaller?

Yes, it was much smaller, but culturally more important than other cities. Bach stayed there because the king never summoned him. The same occurred to Zelenka, who was in fact summoned to work in the Court, but requested a salary in accordance with the tremendous workload asked of him. This salary wasn’t conceded, and he decided to stay on with his orchestra. He was told “to stay on in the orchestra as a double bass player” as “it was better” for him.

What influence did Bach play on the composers who succeeded him?

Without Bach there would be no music subsequent to him, just as without Mozart there would be no nineteenth-century music. Bach was both the inspiration and the reference point for the rest of Baroque and Classical music.

Was Dresden the main centre of chamber-music making during the seventeenth century?