The challenge for performers offering multigenerational Bach programs is that Bach's sons, to a greater or lesser degree, were Classical-era composers, and few groups do both Classical and Baroque music really well. This problem plagues even the superbly equipped ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and its top-notch harpsichordist and leader Christophe Rousset. The program concept is strong: Rousset attempts to give an idea, within the confines of a single disc, of the varying nature of the sons' responses to having such a ...
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The challenge for performers offering multigenerational Bach programs is that Bach's sons, to a greater or lesser degree, were Classical-era composers, and few groups do both Classical and Baroque music really well. This problem plagues even the superbly equipped ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and its top-notch harpsichordist and leader Christophe Rousset. The program concept is strong: Rousset attempts to give an idea, within the confines of a single disc, of the varying nature of the sons' responses to having such a musically totalizing father as an example. Often, C.P.E. Bach's answer was to be extreme, and the Symphony in C major, Wq 182/3, heard here provides an excellent example of his extremity with the bizarre modulations undertaken at breakneck speed in its opening movement. The opening performance of the J.S. Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1059, is very strong, and the soloists are impressive: cellist Atsushi Sakaļ offers a lovely example of sustained tension in a lyric movement in...
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