Search - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Feinstein Ensemble :: CPE Bach: Flute Concertos

As we continue to celebrate the glory of J.S. Bach, his greatest musical son has been overshadowed. This record is a timely reminder of the man about whom Mozart himself said: "He is the father, we are the children. Those of us who know anything at all learned it from him." What they learned from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was symphonic form. If these flute concertos echo Vivaldi--his father Johann Sebastian's hero--they also look forward to Mozart and beyond. As official harpsichordist to Frederick the Great, C.P.E. Bach may have begun these works with him in mind--the king was a keen flutist--but their virtuosity suggests that they were written for a much abler player, probably the great Johann Joachim Quantz. Martin Feinstein's performances are exemplary, and his period band (playing on modern instruments) brings out the exuberance of the fast movements and the mournful grandeur of the slow ones. --Michael Church