Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Flute Concerto in G major H. 445 (Wq 169) (1747-55)
Allegro di molto
Largo
Presto
Flute Concerto in D minor H. 425 (Wq 22) (1747-55)
Allegro
Un poco andante
Allegro di molto
Flute Concerto in A major H. 438 (Wq 168) (1747-55)
Allegro
Largo con sordini, mesto
Allegro assai
Raffaele Trevisani (flute)
Moscow Chamber Orchestra/Constantine Orbelian (conductor)
Recorded in the Great Hall, Moscow Conservatoire, Moscow, Russia, 4-6 July 2001
DELOS DE 3312 [66.51]

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Bach’s second oldest son made it to just three years short of Mozart’s death and to Beethoven’s eighteenth year, so he straddled the Baroque and Classical eras, indeed he was much admired by both men as well as by Haydn. His fame rested largely on a treatise on keyboard technique, but he was also a highly inventive composer. Take for example the bright and breezy last movement Allegro di molto of the D minor concerto (Track 6, 4’ 00" and repeated at 6’ 40") where the rhythm changes are startling, while his inventive effects, given the pretty plain scoring for strings are nicely pointed up by the pizzicato accompaniment to a familiar Baroque harmonic progression in the Presto finale of the G major concerto (Track 3, 3’ 30"). All three slow movements are beautifully crafted, but none more so than (Track 8) the sublimely muted Largo in the A major concerto. This last more than lives up to what became known as his ‘empfindsamer Stil’ or ‘sensitive style’, allowing him to shift the musical colours in highly varied mood swings. These three flute concertos were originally conceived for keyboard at the Court of Frederick the Great, where C.P.E. (as he was known, rather like the J.R. of the Bach dynasty) worked for nearly thirty years as accompanist to the flute-playing Emperor. They were written between 1747 and 1755, and then later adapted for the flute. The virtuoso Johann Quantz was more likely to have been in the composer’s mind when he did so, than the more modest flute-playing talents of his employer.

Raffaele Trevisani has a golden flute which belonged to Galway and he more than rises to the virtuosic demands of these works with the once famed Moscow Chamber Orchestra in support. Perhaps no longer quite of the standard they achieved under the renowned Rudolph Barshai, nevertheless at least American (though of Russian extraction) Constantine Orbelian keeps discreet control without getting in the way. Enjoyable if not always consistently riveting.

Christopher Fifield

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Concerto in G major for Flute H.445

Allegro di molto
Largo
Presto

Concerto in D minor for Flute H.425

Allegro
Un poco andante
Allegro di molto

Concerto in A major for Flute H.438

Allegro
Largo con sordini, mesto
Allegro assai

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