Emanuel Bach arranged these concertos for keyboard and for flute as well as for cello (all plus strings and continuo), but the cello versions are believed to be the originals. Either way, they are tremendously inventive and enjoyable works. Bach’s imagination runs riot in the quick movements, particularly the first movement of the A minor concerto, and in the rollicking finale of the A major, with its brilliant alternation between 2/4 and 6/8 meters. There isn’t a dull moment anywhere, and the Largo con sordini (Mesto) slow movement of the latter work, with its very high writing for the cello, anticipates the equally heartbreaking central elegy in Shostakovich’s First cello concerto. The music is that expressive and that uninhibited in its stark emotionalism.
Raphael Wallfisch plays all three works beautifully, with a stylishly modulated but always expressively apt vibrato and nicely varied articulation in the lengthy episodes of virtuoso passage-work. The Scottish Ensemble accompanies with dashing and precise string playing, obviously “period influenced” but never to the point where the timbre turns harsh or ugly. My only quibble, as so often in recordings of Baroque and early Classical works, concerns the excessively prominent harpsichord, which effectively blots out the cellos and basses and sometimes even covers the soloist.
There are also a few moments, such as the recurring passage at bar 16 of the B-flat concerto’s Adagio, where the player distorts Bach’s clearly notated rhythm by playing only the first note of each two-note sequence. It’s not a huge problem–the players happily refrain from turning these works into duo concertos for cello and harpsichord–but I need to point it out all the same. This also may be a function of the sonics, which are very good overall but favor the harpsichord ever so slightly. Otherwise, in all important respects this disc is thoroughly recommendable, and as mentioned previously, the music is just wonderful. Do get to know it.
[Note to score readers: The Packard Humanities Institute is issuing the complete works of C.P.E. Bach, and these three concertos are available together in a single volume in the series. The individual issues offer scholarly Urtext editions, printed and bound according to the highest standards, at a ridiculously low price–averaging about $25 each. The same quality of work from one of the major European publishers probably would run $200 or more, so if you have even a vague interest in this music, just google “CPE Bach Complete Works” and have a look.] [10/27/2009]
