Cpe Bach Concertos Loffier

Jennifer Vyvyan was one of the most revered sopranos of her generation. Her career was particularly associated with Britten operas, for which she premiered many roles. But the scope of her talent was particularly wide, and she also excelled in early music and sacred works. Here she is featured in the rare Magnificat of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach conducted by Geraint Jones.

In the world of classical-music recordings, the works of J.S. Bach naturally have overshadowed those of the "other" Bachs - the great composer's sons and ancestors. Yet as this CD demonstrates, there is considerable, beauty, originality and power in those too-neglected works. Charles Medlam, the well established interpreter of Baroque music, and his London Baroque ensemble are joined here by harpsichordist Richard Egarr in a demonstration that J.S.'s son Wilhelm Friedemann was in his own right an exceptional composer with a firm understanding of both his father's Baroque-synthesizing insights into musical structure and the new demands of the emerging Classical period in composition. This generally well-produced recording of three clavier concertos by J.S.'s oldest son sparkles with a blend of the old and the new - hints, and sometimes strong ones, of his father's musical approaches combined with treatments evocative of Haydn and the younger Mozart (whom it is said was taught briefly by one or more of the Bach boys). The performance stands as worthy of listening in its own right. And for those as yet unfamiliar with the output of Bach's more talented offspring, W.F. and Carl Philipp Emanual, it is an excellent introduction to a too-often bypassed corner of musical satisfaction.

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s first Bach recording for DG couples his Concertos BWV 1041 and BWV 1042 with the world-premiere recording of the Concerto commissioned by her from Sofia Gubaidulina, the Russian composer who regards Bach as her greatest source of inspiration. Mutter gave the premiere performance of Gubaidulina’s Concerto at the 2007 Lucerne Festival and will record the work with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev at the beginning of 2008.