CPE Bach - Fantasias, Sonatas, Rondos, Solfeggios

The Guardian 80

Alexei Lubimov (tangent piano)
(ECM)

Arguably the most innovative composer of the mid-18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach had an incredibly vivid imagination, which resulted in music that one mean critic said had “the too-easy surprises of a style where anything can happen”. Now his vision has found a new voice in the wonderfully acerbic, crisp, perky textures of the tangent piano, mingling harpsichord, fortepiano and harp-like sounds. The veteran Alexei Lubimov draws the maximum in sprightly vitality from his replica of a 1794 instrument, with some exotic effects in the ethereally chiming Solfeggio in C major (lasting under a minute), the famous C minor Solfeggio, the more substantial, eccentric fantasias and two powerful, hard-hitting sonatas.