I don’t believe it is possible to consider something as authentic in the sense that one can be fairly sure that something was done in a certain way during Johann Sebastian Bach’s time. But authentic in so far as approaching the spirit of the music is concerned, is not only possible, but important. The very word “authentic” is a bit odd. But sometimes we do come across an “authentic” or genuine person. Last month I was reunited with a family friend. Suddenly I realised that hands like these are authentic (he shook my hand, of course). He spoke about his life and I said to myself, “this is really a genuine man”. There was no confusion, nor even astonishment at this kind of politeness that city people have developed. It was real. And it is in this sense that we should try to search for the spirit of music and here authentic instruments are an aid. Gut strings, bows, all these things help.

Together with technique?

Yes, and information. With Bach, all the available information about rhetoric, for example, is required. It is very, very important. And we are well informed, especially in relation to the 18th century, which was the era of the encyclopaedia. We know practically everything there is to know. There are books, methods, treatises which tell us not to do this or that. Occasionally, one learns a lot when something is not mentioned in books, because this could mean that it was such standard practice that it wasn’t even worth mentioning. Then we have methods, instruments, Bach’s scores, we know about tempos. We have everything, except the concert halls, the churches in their original state, and what is missing above all is the expectation of an audience which has already heard the B Minor Mass a thousand times, so there is no longer any sense of premičre. That has been lost forever.

The very word “authentic” is a bit odd. But sometimes we do come across an “authentic” or genuine person. Last month I was reunited with a family friend. Suddenly I realised that hands like these are authentic (he shook my hand, of course). He spoke about his life and I said to myself, “this is really a genuine man”. There was no confusion, nor even astonishment at this kind of politeness that city people have developed. It was real.

Sometimes in the relationship that is established with the audience, it seems as though the excessively academic stance of some musicians acts as an insuperable barrier.