See Siang Wong - The Bach Sons: Piano Concertos & Solo Pieces (2014)

Posted By: SERTiL

Date: March 29, 2017

I bought this 2-CD set having hear the WF Bach keyboard concerto on Swiss Classic Radio. The first thing to say is this: If you're an Original Instrument Purist, don't buy this set. However, if you've been itching to hear the Bach sons' keyboard concertos, *finally* played on a modern piano, then this is the set to buy. Don't hesitate. These is the kind of recording that will go out of print before long. Buy them now.

It *can* be disconcerting to hear the crisp and lightly textured original-instrument aesthetic of the Basel Kammerorchester accompanied by a rich and powerful concert grand, but the modern piano brings a lyricism and personality to the keyboard writing that the harpsichord and period piano-forte aren't capable of. The concert grand makes these concertos sound, well, modern – and on a par with Mozart's concertos (not in genius but as concertos worthy of modern performance and interpretation). I suspect the Bach sons would have loved the modern piano – though they, perhaps, would have exploited the instrument a little differently.

I have all the Spanyi performances of CPE Bach's concertos and all of WF Bach's concertos on harpsichord. I prefer them on the modern grand. I also find the expressiveness of CPE Bach's keyboard writing (and WF's) more successful on the modern grand. CPE Bach's glissandos turn into a blurry, smear in Spanyi's performances - which I don't like at all. The same passages are beautiful and expressive on the modern grand.

The real gem, in my opinion, is WF Bach's D major concerto. I've always wanted to hear this concerto on a modern grand and as far as I'm concerned it's a work of genius (in a fantastically playful and inventive way). It deserves a place in the modern repertoire just after JS Bach's concertos and before Haydn and Mozart's. It's intellectual and virtuosic genius immeasurably outstrips any concerto before Mozart, including Haydn's. It's one of the great pities that WF Bach met with so many obstacles in life (and many self-inflicted).

Johann Christian Bach inherited the gift of melody from his father (melodies that Mozart sometimes borrowed). While his concerto doesn't approach the intellectual virtuosity of WF Bach's, it's still tuneful and enjoyable.

JCF Bach's concerto is the most pre-classical – and the concerto that most easily fades into background music. Nevertheless, JCF was considered the best interpreter of his father's music (among the brothers) and that pianistic ability is on full display in JCF's concerto.

The second CD is composed of solo works – and less novel since Wong chooses solo works that have already, in large part, found their way to the modern piano. CPE Bach's solo for right or left hand alone is beautiful and impressionistic, and new to me. My hope is that Wong decides to record more of the concertos – but the audience for these works must be vanishingly small. ByTeop Tnomrev

TRACKLIST

CD1
01. Concerto in D Minor, Wq. 23: I. Allegro
02. Concerto in D Minor, Wq. 23: II. Poco andante
03. Concerto in D Minor, Wq. 23: III. Allegro assai
04. Concerto in D Major, Fk. 41: I. Allegro
05. Concerto in D Major, Fk. 41: II. Andante
06. Concerto in D Major, Fk. 41: III. Vivace
07. Concerto in F Minor, CW C73: I. Allegro di molto
08. Concerto in F Minor, CW C73: II. Andante
09. Concerto in F Minor, CW C73: III. Prestissimo
10. Concerto in A Major, BR C 30: I. Allegro
11. Concerto in A Major, BR C 30: II. Andante ma non troppo
12. Concerto in A Major, BR C 30: III. Allegro

CD2
01. Solfeggio in C Minor, Wq. 117: No. 2
02. Fantasia in F-Sharp Minor, Wq. 67
03. Rondo in E Minor, Wq. 66 "Abschied vom Silbermannschen Clavier"
04. Rondo in C Major " Freude über den Empfang des Silbermannschen Claviers"
05. Keyboard Piece in A Major, Wq. 117 No. 1
06. Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49: No. 1, "Württemberg": I. Moderato
07. Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49: No. 1, "Württemberg": Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49: No. 1, "Württemberg": II. Andante
08. Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49: No. 1, "Württemberg": III. Allegro assai
09. Sonata in B-Flat Major, Fk. 9: I. Un poco allegro
10. Sonata in B-Flat Major, Fk. 9: II. Andante
11. Sonata in B-Flat Major, Fk. 9: III. Allegro di molto -Andantino
12. Polonaise in F Minor, Fk. 12: No. 10
13. Sonata in A Major, Op. 17: No. 5: I. Allegro
14. Sonata in A Major, Op. 17: No. 5: II. Presto
15. Allegretto con variazioni in G Major, "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", Wf. 12/2
16. Jesus bleibt meine Freude, BWV 147: Choral

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