Christopher Hinterhuber - C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas and Rondos (2006)

Tracklist

01. Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 51/4 (H.128): I. Allegro assai
02. Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 51/4 (H.128): II. Largo e sostenuto
03. Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 51/4 (H.128): III. Presto
04. Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Wq. 52/4 (H.37): I. Allegro
05. Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Wq. 52/4 (H.37): II. Poco andante
06. Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Wq. 52/4 (H.37): III. Allegro assai
07. Sonata in A Major, Wq. 55/4 (H.186): I. Allegro assai
08. Sonata in A Major, Wq. 55/4 (H.186): II. Poco adagio
09. Sonata in A Major, Wq. 55/4 (H.186): III. Allegro
10. Rondo in D Minor, Wq. 61/4 (H.290): Allegro di molto
11. Sonata in C Major, Wq. 65/47 (H.248): I. Allegro
12. Sonata in C Major, Wq. 65/47 (H.248): II. Adagio assai
13. Rondo in B-Flat major, Wq. 65/29 (H.83): Allegro
14. Sonata in E Major, Wq. 65/29 (H.83): I. Allegro di molto
15. Sonata in E Major, Wq. 65/29 (H.83): II. Andante
16. Sonata in E Major, Wq. 65/29 (H.83): III. Allegretto
17. Cantabile in B Minor, from Sonata, Wq.55/3 (H.245)

On this entry in Naxos' Eighteenth Century Keyboard series, C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas and Rondos, young Austrian pianist Christopher Hinterhuber plays through a very well-chosen selection from J.S. Bach's "son number two's" staggering keyboard output on a modern piano. As C.P.E. Bach's music sounds more like Beethoven than it does his father's, or for that matter, any of his contemporaries, it works very well on a modern piano, and Hinterhuber does everything here considerable justice within a classical tempo, particularly Bach's transparently expressive, yet manic-depressive Sonata in F sharp minor, Wq. 52/4. If there is any reservation to be had about these performances, it is that Hinterhuber does not take it out into a bit more of a romantic territory than he does. He is a tad cold, and this music seems to benefit from some measure of give and take -- just compare Glenn Gould's reading of the Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49/1 or, if you can find them on vinyl, Artur Balsam's radiant and sensitive readings of C.P.E. Bach on Musical Heritage Society. Nevertheless, for an introduction to keyboard music of Bach son number two, played in a historically correct manner on a modern instrument, this fits the bill.

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