Bach his 0 C. P. E. Bach Concertos for Keyboard and Strings — G, H412a; D, H416b; D minor, H420a. MiklOs Spanyi (ahpd/bfp); Concerto Armonico / Pêter Szfits (vn).

BIS 0 CI) CD768 (66 minutes: DDD).

Having begun the valuable recording of all C. P. E. Bach's keyboard concertos in a Budapest church, 1 suppose it was inevitable that B1S's fourth volume should have remained in that bathroomy acoustic; but I would earnestly urge those responsible — since only about onesixth of the series has so far appeared - to find another venue for future issues, since the success of the series is marred by this over-resonance. The wild upward skirls of the G major Concerto's first movement, for example, performed with energy by the admirably alert Concerto Armonico, tend to blur into a mush; and MiklOs Spanyi's extensive use of 16-foot register on his Hass-copy harpsichord also thickens the texture. The gem of this particular work is the central Adagio, whose wealth of galant expressive suspensions contrasts sharply with the older style of the vigorous finale, whose ritornello form (adopted throughout these works) derives from a previous generation, though harmonically and in its abrupt gestures it is very much of its own period. In view of Emanuel Bach's increasing ornamentation in later sources of his work, Spanyi has here added ornamentation (and improvised his own cadenzas) to this version, based on the manuscript score in Berlin.

The highly dramatic D minor Concerto is more complex musically; and the harpsichord's solo passages in the initial movement are thematically independent of the ritornellos. (Emanuel's first-movement cadenza goes right up to the Fin alt.) The slow movement is in parts almost romantic in flavour, despite its overtones from the music of Bach pere. Overall, a splendidly invigorating work, performed with patent commitment (and with judicious tonal contrasts) by all. The textural layout of the more conventional D major Concerto (a first recording, like that of the G major) suggests a possible origin as a flute concerto, and the long-spun cantilena of its second movement in particular leads Spanyi to turn, convincingly, to the fortepiano (a Silbermann copy) — which he plays with great neatness and which is recorded with a welcome closer presence than the harpsichord. LS