J. S. Bach:
Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 1010
Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
Variation 25 from Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Robert Schumann:
Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 - Aufschwung
In modo d’una marcia - Second movement of Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44

Frédéric Chopin:
Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27/1
Prelude in D minor, Op. 28/24
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17/4
Prelude in A minor, Op. 28/2

W. A. Mozart:
Fantasy in C minor, K 475

Franz Schubert:
Andante sostenuto - Second movement of Sonata in B flat major, D 960

Domenico Scarlatti:
Sonata in D major, K 535
Sonata in E major, K 380

Films:
Cries and Whispers & Saraband
Music in Darkness & Smiles of a Summer Night
Fanny and Alexander
Autumn Sonata
Face to Face
In the Presence of a Clown
The Devil’s Eye
The Silence
Through a Glass Darkly

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) made fifty films, directed more than 150 theatre productions and wrote several books, but the recurrent thread running through his life was music. He often said that if he hadn't become a director he would have wished to become a conductor, and went so far as to claim that ‘film and music are almost the same thing. They are means of expression and communication that go beyond human wisdom and that touch a person’s emotional centre.’ Bergman’s interest in classical music became evident early on in his career. Music in Darkness(1948) is about a pianist who loses his sight in a shooting accident, To Joy(1950) features a violinist who dreams of a solo career and Summer Interlude(1951) takes place at the Royal Swedish Opera. He admired all who could perform music, reserving his greatest love for pianists, and concert pianists are portrayed in Hour of the Wolf, Face to Facea nd Autumn Sonata.

One of Bergman’s favourite Swedish pianists was Roland Pöntinen, who here performs a number of pieces featured in Bergman’s films, by composers including Mozart, Chopin and Schumann. Pöntinenis joined by the Stenhammar Quartet in the second movement of Schumann’s piano quintet, used by Bergman to great effect in the award-winning Fanny and Alexander. Another of the director’s favourite performers, the cellist Torleif Thedéen, also contributes to the project, with the sarabandesfrom three of Bach’s suites for solo cello.

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Recording: December 2017 at Grünewaldsalen, Stockholm Concert Hall, Sweden. Bach Sarabandes: recorded in 1995/96 at Länna Church, Sweden. Previously released on BIS-803. Played on Grand piano - Steinway D