This generously filled disc announces its intentions from the start with a keen-as-mustard opening movement to Bach’s E flat Sinfonia. It might seem a cliche to liken the movement’s unpredictable switches between thunderous passagework and almost histrionically lyrical pianissimos to a ride on a roller coaster, but this particular ride is not one of those which slows down for you to get on; instead you are knocked back in your seat and grabbing for your hat from the word go.
It is not all like that, of course. While the booklet’s description of these three sinfonias from Bach’s 30 years at the Berlin court of Frederick the Great as ‘infinitely tamer than the ones from his [later] Hamburg era’ is rather harsh, they do have their calmer and politer moments – the same E flat Sinfonia ends with an amiable ‘hunting’ finale. By and large, though, this is the Emanuel Bach most people would recognise – nervy, jagged themes, explosive (and implosive) dynamic contrasts, urgent repeated notes, quiet melodies of instant and affecting tenderness. The Berlin sinfonias may not be as popular on record as the Hamburg ones, but they are the real thing all right, and they are performed with great relish and fearlessly vibrato-less expertise by this fine period band, whose ability to negotiate highly changeable music with lucid and near-faultless ensemble (though not always perfect tuning), all without the aid of a director, is impressive indeed.
The Cello Concerto is a fine work which CPE fans will probably have come across before – other period recordings include an orchestrally stodgy but typically thought-provoking recording by Anner Bylsma, and a captivatingly sprightly but over-echoey one from Hidemi Suzuki. Peter Bruns plays with the habitual lyricism and full sound of a ‘modern’ cellist, an approach that is slightly at odds, perhaps, with that of the musicians around him. I am not sure they always agree on tempo either, and Bruns’ first-movement cadenza is a real oddball, but in general I enjoyed this performance. The Harpsichord Concerto is a more conventional and, I suppose, forgettable work, but it is still an energetic one and its performance is thoroughly up to the job. One question for the booklet translator though: is describing CPE Bach’s formal design for concertos as ‘small-membered’ a compliment