C.P.E. 'The Sepia' Bach (Specifically)

[MomsMobley]

in an attempt to further discussion on specific composers... the symphonies & many of the keyboard concertos (performed on instruments from clavichord to fortepiano) & sonatas/fantasies are 'essential' listening, on some days & in some works I prefer Carl (or Karl) even to Papa Jo Haydn.

ludger remy, harpsichord (on CPO)

miklos spanyi, tangent piano (on BIS)

 

[MomsMobley]

and solo-- and while I don't long for piano CPE, Mikhail Pletnev is always at least interesting, and so he is here-- was "wild," in its way, to see this come out on DG back then too...

tuff not to prefer this sound world, however--

 

[king ubu]

I think this is the CPE Bach disc I've enjoyed most so far:

here's an annoyingly worded laudatory blurb from ClassicsToday (10/10 rating):

The care, due consideration, and sheer intelligence with which she imbues every note is a revelation. The third movement of the E minor harpsichord sonata is simply breathtaking, all thunder and lightning. By contrast, the works for fortepiano receive sweet and tender attention, a perfect demonstration of the differences in color and heft between the two instruments. The sound is quite animated, particularly in the harpsichord sonatas.

source: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=40063

[MomsMobley]

Thanks, King-- I'll check Cerasni out. I was fortunate to find a cache of Miklos Spanyi on BIS & for the most part, find both the solo recordings and the concertos tremendous, one the glories of the label we already revere etc.

 

& hey, look what I just found also by Spanyi--

 

***

Here's  good text interview w/ Spanyi from 2011, about CPE Bach, Mozart & --

http://seenandheard-international.com/2011/06/miklos-spanyi-on-mozarts-other-father-a-review-and-interview-with-the-c-p-e-bach-specialist/

 

[Larry Kart]

A less than enthusiastic response to Spanyi  from a knowledgeble fellow:
 

http://www.musica-dei-donum.org/cd_reviews/BrilliantClassics_94849_BIS_CD1787_CD1957.html

This extensive site is worth a long visit; Johann Van Veen has never led me wrong so far that I can recall, either in his enthusiasms or his demurrals.

 

 

[MomsMobley]

Thanks LK, I hadn't seen that. Thing is, I find Veen more prolix than incisive-- note he doesn't mention that Spanyi has used two different bands-- the Hungarian Concerto Armonico and the Finnish Opus X-- in his cycle, nor does he compare their sizes to the Staier / Freiburger or Brilliant Classics sets.

I like Staier btw but Spanyi and Ludget Remy are tops, I think; Spanyi's extensive knowledge of CPE aolo & all its potentialities might color the concerto recordings but as with any work of value, there are multiple viable interpretations, performance choices.

w/ opus x studio

 

w/ armonico live

Edited August 5, 2015 by MomsMobley

[king ubu]

@Moms: any specific recommendations for Spányi in BIS? Presto is running a special offer for another few days and one of the reasons I don't have a single disc there is the shear amount of stuff and that I have no clue what might be especially worthwhile (and yeah, I'm hesitant in this case to go for the long run, it's really a lot of music of which I so far have not got a particularly good idea, so I wouldn't even know if getting the whole shebang would make sense on the long run or not).

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/promotion/bis?k=11&w=Miklós+Spányi+-+C+P+E+Bach

Edited to add: I'm not too big on the clavichord so far ... rather have harpsichord or fortepiano recommendations thus, or a mix.

Edited August 7, 2015 by king ubu

[MomsMobley]

how low can go you, very interesting to SEE Christophe perform this--

[Larry Kart]

Fascinating works/ lovely performances:

http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Sensibility-Sonatas-Fantasias-Rondo/dp/B00RF2DTIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443877092&sr=1-1&keywords=c.p.+e.+bach+challenge

Do you know this disc, Moms?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/08/cpe-bach-sense-sensibility-sonatas-cecchetti-cd-review-fantasias-rondo

http://earlymusicreview.com/c-p-e-bach-sense-and-sensibility-sonatas-fantasias-rondo/

Edited October 3, 2015 by Larry Kart

[MomsMobley]

The analogy isn't exact (none are) & though it's impossible to overrate Haydn, I believe it's useful for us to begin thinking of CPE Bach a la Haydn-- though in doing so we can regret he didn't write (much) more chamber music. Still, the keyboard concertos alone-- especially the Spanyi / BIS series and much smaller but brilliant Remy / CPO issues...

 

And damn, I'd not seen this before, how many light years across the Omniverse from 21st century ASMF that JSngry saw recently? We all knw Les Musiciens du Louvre from many superb recordings under Minkowski's baton, natch.

 

 

[MomsMobley]

I believe some people know Marcia Hadjimarkos' superb Mozart and Haydn discs for Zig-Zag, well her C.P.E. Bach is at least as excellent--

 

Some Zig Zag discs are elusive and others are being reissued so hopefully this is findable.

Hadjimarkos a U of Iowa double major in French lit and piano performance btw, for all the classical 'Hawkeyes' on the board.

[papsrus]

Coming around to C.P.E. lately ... picked up a couple of broad stroke releases:

 

Symphonies 1 through 5; Cello concertos A Major, A Minor, B Flat Major. 

Cello in A Major allegro assai is, I'd guess, immediately recognizable to even the casual listener. ... (Edit) well, can't figure out how to link to III movement, but I'll work on it.

 

 

And ...

 

 

Edited January 15, 2016 by papsrus

[Stefan Wood]

Picked this up:

 

[MomsMobley]

This not the version I'm listening to-- that's Miklos Spanyi & Concerto Armonico on Volume 7 of his CPO keyboard concerto series (BIS 857)-- but this gives at least the idea & a bit more. Jump right to the third movement at 14:24 & try not to elate. Spanyi plays this on tangent piano, btw, & is a shade or two more dramatic.

Here's the same movement in its cello iteration, performed (perhaps a little quickly) by our beloved Cafe Zimmermann--

 

 

[MomsMobley]

Spanyi from BIS Volume 26 of the solo keyboard works

it takes a while to understand CPE rhetoric and the range of possibilities within it but as it seems more people are discovering, he's a GIANT. It's gratifying if not often to my taste to see more pianists taking the repertoire on also, including the estimable 'integrale' by Ana-Marija Markovina. 

[Olie Brice]

Is the cadenza in the Cafe Zimmermann recording of the A Major cello sonata improvised (or written?) by the cellist Petr Skalka?  Other than the opening phrase different recordings have different cadenzas - this one is gorgeous, but harmonically quite surprising in context.

[soulpope]

A further C.P.E. Bach recording I`ve enjoyed recently .... :

[Olie Brice]

39 minutes ago, soulpope said:

A further C.P.E. Bach recording I`ve enjoyed recently .... :

I've been getting excited by both CPE and Bylsma recently, so will have to check that one out.  Is that the 1989 recording (shown above) with a different cover?

Edited February 21, 2018 by Olie Brice

[soulpope]

7 minutes ago, Olie Brice said:

I've been getting excited by both CPE and Bylsma recently, so will have to check that one out.  Is that the 1989 recording (shown above) with a different cover?

Yes  - this

was the original release from 1989, nowadays available via folowing edition :

Edited February 21, 2018 by soulpope