BaL 15.05.21 - C.P.E. Bach: Cello Concerto no. 3 in A

[MickyD]

Haven't had a chance to catch up with this BAL yet, but am dismayed at the lack of comments...was it really that uninteresting?

[vinteuil]

... not really persuaded so far that I need to supplement the Bylsma.

I think I agree. I thought her final choice (Altstaedt/Arcangelo) a little too anaemic, and the Isserlis/Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen a bit too well-upholstered ; I did enjoy the Ophélie Gaillard/Pulcinella performance.

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[jayne lee wilson]

Haven't heard the BaL yet... Will listen later as usual.....

As a CPE Bach obsessive (caught the bug during the 2014 tercentenary), I have to say, on the musical grounds of liveliness, fidelity to the timbres, expressive range, interpretive variety and sheer sound quality, you can do so much better than going back to Bylsma or Wallfisch.
Among several recent issues (the three Cello Concertos fit neatly onto a CD, or sometimes two with a symphony)) this outstanding release soon became one of my all-time CPE Classics -


Mes favoris
Cet élément a bien été ajouté / retiré de vos favoris.C.P.E. Bach: Cello Concertos

Roel Dieltiens, Orchestra Of The 18th Century
Released on 18/10/2019 by Glossa

Gorgeous album in every respect, which no-one who loves (or merely likes) this music could ever regret buying. I've played it, lived with it, for days on end...just sublime. Very special.
If you prefer a modern instrumental set-up, go for the Queyras/Resonanz/Minasi. But if you have Qobuz, just to browse and sample the top four here could be a deep & enduring pleasure... you might join me in my obsession!

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=CPE+Bach+cello+concertos&i=boutique

[pastoralguy]

Thank you for the welcome backs. Of course, I never really left...

[jayne lee wilson]

Thank you for the welcome backs. Of course, I never really left...

Greetings from me too.... (and, given what I recall of your hifi, if you don't already have it, just go and hear (or buy) the Dieltiens (see above) - now! A grace-note for any system...)

[Bryn]

Haven't heard the BaL yet... Will listen later as usual.....

As a CPE Bach obsessive (caught the bug during the centenary a few years back), I have to say, on the musical grounds of liveliness, fidelity to the timbres, expressive range, interpretive variety and sheer sound quality, you can do so much better than going back to Bylsma or Wallfisch.
Among several recent issues (the three Cello Concertos fit neatly onto a CD) this outstanding release soon became one of my all-time CPE Classics -


Mes favoris
Cet élément a bien été ajouté / retiré de vos favoris.C.P.E. Bach: Cello Concertos

Roel Dieltiens, Orchestra Of The 18th Century
Released on 18/10/2019 by Glossa

Gorgeous album in every respect, which no-one who loves (or merely likes) this music could ever regret buying. I've played it, lived with it, for days on end...just sublime. Ver special.
If you prefer a modern instrumental set-up, go for the Queyras/Resonanz/Minasi. But if you have Qobuz, just to browse and sample the top four here could be a deep & enduring pleasure... you might join me in my obsession!
https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q...tos&i=boutique

Ophélie Gaillard, Steven Isserlis, Nicolas Altstaedt.

[Richard Barrett]

CPE Bach has been one of my favourite composers since at 13 or so I heard the Concerto for piano and harpsichord in the ground-breaking recording from 1967 directed by Gustav Leonhardt with the combined forces of his Consort and the Concentus Musicus. I still listen to that recording sometimes, although there have been quite a few since then. As for this cello concerto, my current favourite recording is the one with Café Zimmermann where it's sandwiched between some of the string symphonies. I think the only more recent recording I've heard is the one with Dieltiens and the O18C which is beautifully played, but which (as with most of this ensemble's more recent releases, unfortunately) sounds as if it was recorded in a cave.

[jayne lee wilson]

Respectfully disagree, the O18thC/Glossa sounds exceptional here - wide and deep, spacious and airy, tonally sweet and very detailed, but with fine ensemble and solo pesence too, very naturally balanced.
Such perceived differences are almost always about systems and the rooms they are placed in, as I've heard many times. Those differences can be quite surprising, but usually analysable (often about speaker design/position), given enough experience.

This CPE album takes my Ears well outside the Cave of my Room, almost extending beyond the very walls... which is where I'm going now... back to the garden...

[cloughie]

Thank you for the welcome backs. Of course, I never really left...

No but you didn’t write so we didn’t know!

[vinteuil]

As for this cello concerto, my current favourite recording is the one with Café Zimmermann where it's sandwiched between some of the string symphonies.

... those lucky enough to have acquired the Zimmerman box will find it there -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HSRY4TN

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[MickyD]

CPE Bach has been one of my favourite composers since at 13 or so I heard the Concerto for piano and harpsichord in the ground-breaking recording from 1967 directed by Gustav Leonhardt with the combined forces of his Consort and the Concentus Musicus. I still listen to that recording sometimes, although there have been quite a few since then. As for this cello concerto, my current favourite recording is the one with Café Zimmermann where it's sandwiched between some of the string symphonies. I think the only more recent recording I've heard is the one with Dieltiens and the O18C which is beautifully played, but which (as with most of this ensemble's more recent releases, unfortunately) sounds as if it was recorded in a cave.

Oh yes, I started my love affair with CPE Bach with exactly the same recording! Then shortly afterwards I heard the string symphonies in that revelatory AAM/Hogwood set which I played to death. Despite it's rough edges, I still find it thrilling.

[Braunschlag]

‘I think the only more recent recording I've heard is the one with Dieltiens and the O18C which is beautifully played, but which (as with most of this ensemble's more recent releases, unfortunately) sounds as if it was recorded in a cave.’

I had to do a quick listen to check this and I’d entirely agree - excellent performance but over-reverberant to the point of swallowing detail.

[vinteuil]

I think the only more recent recording I've heard is the one with Dieltiens and the O18C which is beautifully played...

... the feeling I got from Hannah French was that she saw the Dieltiens as in the end too self-indulgent and wayward (even for CPE Bach... ) - as Andrew McGregor put it, a performance that would be a wow if heard live but perhaps would not bear repeated listenings. From the excerpts played I agree.

I am more and more beguiled by the Ophélie Gaillard / Pulcinella performance

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[Richard Barrett]

I am more and more beguiled by the Ophélie Gaillard / Pulcinella performance

I can see I shall have to give that a close listen. I just listened to a couple of minutes of the first movement and it sounds very attractive indeed, I always like to hear music like this played with fortepiano continuo, it's not tried often enough I think.

edit: excellent! I mean the whole CD.

[ostuni]

For those who like consulting scores, the complete CPE Bach edition produced by the Packard Humanities Institute is a wonderful resource - the cello concertos are at https://cpebach.org/toc/toc-III-6.html

For my tastes, the fortepiano continuo in the Gaillard recording was just a bit too intrusive, and I suspect it might get more annoying with repeated listening. I think I enjoyed Dieltiens & Orch 18th Century more than HF and AMcG did - though (and I was listening over headphones, so room acoustics don’t come into it) I do agree with those who found the recording over-resonant.