C.P.E. Bach: Concerti for Cello, Strings & Basso continuo Guy Fishman & Members Of The Habel And Haydn Society

• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788): Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172, H. 439:
• 1 Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172, H. 439: I. Allegro 06:04
• 2 Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172, H. 439: II. Largo con sordino. Mesto 06:54
• 3 Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172, H. 439: III. Allegro assai 04:50
• Cello Concerto in A Minor, Wq. 170, H. 432:
• 4 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Wq. 170, H. 432: I. Allegro assai 09:13
• 5 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Wq. 170, H. 432: II. Andante 08:53
• 6 Cello Concerto in A Minor, Wq. 170, H. 432: III. Allegro assai 06:20
• Cello Concerto in B-Flat Major, Wq. 171, H. 436:
• 7 Cello Concerto in B-Flat Major, Wq. 171, H. 436: I. Allegretto 07:58
• 8 Cello Concerto in B-Flat Major, Wq. 171, H. 436: II. Adagio 07:58
• 9 Cello Concerto in B-Flat Major, Wq. 171, H. 436: III. Allegro assai 06:14
• Total Runtime 01:04:24

Info for C.P.E. Bach: Concerti for Cello, Strings & Basso continuo

Cellist Guy Fishman releases a follow up to his critically acclaimed Vivaldi Concertos on Olde Focus with this recording of the concerti of C.P.E. Bach. Along with his colleagues from the Handel and Haydn Society, Fishman's performance underscores the angularity, unpredictability, and most of all unique creativity of this music by J.S. Bach's unconventional son.

“A musician cannot hope to move the listener unless he himself is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his audience, for the revealing of his own humour will stimulate a like humour in his listener."

Have there ever been words more germane to the central mission of all musicians than these? Written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, they are found in his Versuch Ober die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen ("Essay on the True Art of Keyboard Playing"), and though they are inscribed in a book seemingly aimed at the craft of playing an instrument, they reveal their author's true purpose to have been the art of making music, and the life-changing force he believed this endeavor to be.

During his time in Berlin he penned some of the most affecting and expressive music of the 18th century, including the three works on this recording. Take the Concerto in A major, for instance. The exuberance of the orchestral opening cannot be mistaken for anything other than pure joy in music-making, and hardly betrays its author's unhappy circumstances. Ample virtuosity evinces a complete understanding of the cello and sits well under the hand but is difficult enough that only a rare cellist dispatches it with a dry forehead. The soloist's use of material originating with the orchestra - and vice versa - hints at the absolute synergy amongst disparate parts that Emanuel must have learned from his only teacher, Johann Sebastian. This feature serves as fodder for an interplay between soloist and ensemble where one begins a thought and the other finishes it. It is found frequently in the Concerto in A minor, at times exciting, as in the third movement, and at others intimate, as in the single-note utterances in the second movement. The first movement is set like a drama, and reminds me of the similarity between music-making and acting, especially when Emanuel's exhortation to move the listener is observed. ...

Guy Fishman, cello
Aisslinn Nosky, violin
Maureen Murchie, violin
Max Mandel, viola
Sarah Freiberg, cello
Robert Nairn, bass
Ian Watson, harpsichord

Guy Fishman
principal cellist of the Handel Haydn Society, with which he made his Symphony Hall solo debut in 2005. He is in demand as an early music specialist in the United States and Europe, performing in recital with Dawn Upshaw, Mark Peskanov, Eliot Fisk, Richard Eggar, Lara St. John, Gil Kalish, and Kim Kashkashian, and with Arcadia Players, Querelle des Bouffons, Boston Baroque, Boulder Bach Festival, Apollo's Fire, Emmanuel Music, the Boston Museum Trio, Les Violons du Roy, and El Mundo, among others. He has toured with the Mark Morris Dance Group and Natalie Merchant, and has performed at the Aston Magna, Connecticut Early Music, Rockport, and Colorado Music festivals, as well as at the BBC Proms. His playing has been praised as "plangent" by the Boston Globe, "electrifying" by the New York Times, and "beautiful....noble" by the Boston Herald. The Boston Musical Intelligencer related that in a performance of Haydn's C-major concerto "..[I] heard greater depth in this work than I have in quite some time."

Mr. Fishman has recorded for the CORO, Telarc, Centaur, Titanic, and Newport Classics labels. His release of Vivaldi cello concerti with members of the Handel and Haydn Society (Olde Focus) was called "brilliant" by the Huffington Post and "a feast for the ears" by Early Music America. It was voted "Top 10 Releases of 2017" by WRTI in Philadelphia.

Mr. Fishman started playing the cello at age 12, and at 16 began his Baccalaureate studies with David Soyer. He subsequently worked with Peter Wiley, Julia Lichten, and Laurence Lesser, with whom he completed Doctoral studies. In addition, he is a Fulbright Fellow, having worked with famed Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma in Amsterdam. He plays a rare cello made in Rome in 1704 by David Tecchler.

Booklet for C.P.E. Bach: Concerti for Cello, Strings & Basso continuo