A Review of CPE Bach’s Cembalo Concertos by Andreas Staier – Just Beautiful

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach, as it is rather well known, had a large family. A total of 6 sons. Most of them did some composing. Unfortunately, the only descendant of Bach that I personally find interesting is Carl Philipp Emanuel, often abbreviated as CPE (I’ve written a bit about Wilhelm Friedemann here).

CPE had a major influence on music, including on one of the greatest names ever, Mozart. Mozart did meet CPE, and reportedly has said about him “Er ist der Vater; wir sind die Bubn. Wer von uns was Rechts kann, hats von ihm gelernt.” (which roughly translates into “he (CPE) is the father, we are the children. Whoever of us know how to compose, has learned from him”).

CPE Bach in a way, musically speaking is the “missing link” between the Baroque period of JS Bach and Händel, and the Viennese classical period of Mozart and Haydn. In his music you still have some elements of the former, but much more points to the latter. I suggest you check out this nice Guardian article if you want to know more about the composer.

Andreas Staier

I’ve written several times about the German pianist and harpsichordist Andreas Staier. Most of the time I just love his recordings (e.g. Schubert’s Winterreise, Bach’s Clarinet Sonatas, or his great Diabelli variations). Occasionally I’m disappointed, particularly with his recording of the JS Bach keyboard concertos (see A Disappointment From Andreas Staier – How Can That Be?).

I was particularly disappointed in the JS Bach recording mentioned above as I just love this CPE bach recording I’m writing about here, so I had particularly high expectations.

CPE Bach: Six Harpsichord Concertos – Andreas Staier – Petra Müllejans – Freiburger Barockorchester (Harmonia Mundi 2011)

So what do you get? Sheer brilliance! Staier and the Freiburgers really put all their energy in making this music shine. And what beautiful music it is. I personally would put CPE Bach higher than Haydn in my personal appreciation.

This is really exicing and passionate playing, which will draw you in. This album deservedly received the Gramophone Award in its category in 2011 (interestingly, they put it under “baroque instrumental”, not sure I’d 100% agree).

Check it out!

My rating: 5 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prestoclassical)

Author: Musicophile

I'm not a professional musician, I don't work in the music industry, I'm just what the name says, somebody who loves music. I've been in love with music for all of my life, took piano lessons for nearly 10 years, and played in several amateur Jazz groups. I go to concerts, both classical and Jazz, quite regularly. And I collect music previously on vinyl and CDs, now on my computer, and am slightly OCD on my music collection. You can reach me at Musicophile1(AT)gmail.com View all posts by Musicophile