Miklós Spányi, Opus X Ensemble Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Keyboard Concertos, Vol. 2

Two cycles that have consistently been receiving high praise from reviewers are Miklós Spányi’s survey of C.P.E. Bach’s Music for Solo Keyboard and of the same composer’s Keyboard Concertos.

After nearly 30 years at the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach took up the position of cantor and music director in Hamburg, left vacant by the death of his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann. Even though his new duties included teaching as well as providing music for the five city churches of Hamburg, Bach nevertheless still found the time to compose keyboard sonatas and keyboard concertos as well as to present secular concerts. Two of the works on this disc, the Concertos in F major and in E flat major, were composed soon after the move to Hamburg.

Miklòs Spànyi’s latest volume in his series of the Keyboard Concertos by C.P.E. Bach is the 16th of an estimated total of 19, and we are thus reaching the end of a series which according to a reviewer on German website Klassik Heute has earned ‘a rightful place in the history of recorded music as an epoch-making achievement’. On the present disc we are treated to three works which illustrate the various responses of the composer to the changes that occurred in the musical establishment in the mid-18th century. Although composed within three years of each other, the two concertos are very different from each other. The Concerto in D major is a highly extrovert work, obviously intended for public concerts. This character is underlined by Bach’s later addition of wind instruments, adding colour to an already colourful piece.

Having received numerous awards and distinctions, this series is by now self-recommending. As anyone who has encountered previous volumes knows, Miklós Spányi’s combination of musicianship and expertise and the wonderful qualities of this unjustly ignored music is a guarantee for an unusually satisfying listening experience. For this volume a change in recording venue has taken place. Previous instalments were recorded in Hungary with the Hungarian period orchestra Concerto Armonico, whereas the present recording was made in Finland, Spányi’s country of residence, with Opus X, a young Finnish band.