CPE Bach: Württemberg Sonatas

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Esfahani's at his most expressive in the slow movements...This, his first solo disc, provides a particularly welcome introduction onto the world stage for an artist matching, in expression CPE... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2014, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 6th Jan 2014
Catalogue No: CDA67995
Label: Hyperion
Length: 76 minutes

BBC Music Magazine Awards

2015

Newcomer Award
BBC Music Magazine

February 2014

Disc of the month
Gramophone Magazine

February 2014

Editor's Choice
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2014
Gramophone Awards

2014

Winner - Baroque Instrumental

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Bach, C P E: Keyboard Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49 / 1 (H30) 'Württemberg Sonata No. 1'

Work length11:36

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Moderato

Track length4:40

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Andante

Track length3:13

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Allegro assai

Track length3:43

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bach, C P E: Keyboard Sonata in A flat major, Wq. 49 / 2 (H31) 'Württemberg Sonata No. 2'

Work length13:16

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Un poco allegro

Track length5:10

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Adagio

Track length3:27

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Allegro

Track length4:39

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bach, C P E: Sonata in E minor, H33

Work length14:02

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Allegro

Track length6:03

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Adagio

Track length4:12

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Vivace

Track length3:47

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bach, C P E: Keyboard Sonata in B flat major, Wq. 49 / 4 (H32) 'Württemberg Sonata No. 4'

Work length12:39

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Un poco allegro

Track length4:19

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Andante

Track length3:42

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Allegro

Track length4:38

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bach, C P E: Keyboard Sonata in E flat major, Wq. 49 / 5 (H34) 'Württemberg Sonata No. 5'

Work length12:21

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Allegro

Track length5:22

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Adagio

Track length3:23

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Allegro assai

Track length3:36

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bach, C P E: Keyboard Sonata in B minor, Wq. 49 / 6 (H36) 'Württemberg Sonata No. 6'

Work length12:54

$3.30

$4.50

$6.15

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

I. Moderato

Track length5:00

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

II. Adagio non molto

Track length4:22

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

III. Allegro

Track length3:32

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

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‘This Iranian-American has carved out a niche as his instrument’s leading champion … his success is founded on remarkable artistry’ (International Piano)

‘Such virtuosity and disarming presentation suggests that Esfahani could inspire a whole new appreciation of the instrument’ (The Guardian)

Hyperion is delighted to present the debut recording of the wonderful young harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. He was the first harpsichordist to be named a BBC New Generation Artist or to be awarded a fellowship prize by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

Here Mahan Esfahani has recorded CPE Bach’s six ‘Württemberg’ sonatas, which were written in 1742–3 and published in 1744, and his thrillingly intense performances make the best possible case for this dramatic, beautifully written, endlessly imaginative but for some reason under-performed music. The sonatas range stylistically from initial stirrings of Sturm und Drang in keyboard music to sublime imitations of the human voice, with nods to the High Baroque and the idiom of CPE Bach’s more famous father. Mahan writes in his booklet notes that ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach makes the most combative statement possible to assert his new musical language’.

Reviews

February 2014

Esfahani's at his most expressive in the slow movements...This, his first solo disc, provides a particularly welcome introduction onto the world stage for an artist matching, in expression CPE Bach himself.

February 2014

Esfahani’s booklet-note provides the listener with a convivial commentary in which he draws attention to CPE Bach’s ‘Janus-like musical personality’...The elusive fusion of thematic intricacy, ‘Baroque’ rhetoric and ‘proto-Classical’ Sturm und Drang offered by the instrument are caught perfectly by Esfahani’s supple touch and disarming sense of rhetorical pacing.

February 2014

Esfahani makes coherence out of apparent incoherence...As for his playing, in the best sense it is anything but unpredictable: sure-minded and vividly realized, it holds the attention with ease and is a pleasure to hear. This is an excellent recording and it can be thoroughly recommended.

12th January 2014

The sound of his instrument...enjoys a wide-ranging spectrum of timbres in Esfahani’s dexterous hands, but it is the verve of his allegros and the affecting pathos of his slow movements that mark him out as a special interpreter of this fascinating composer’s music in his tercentenary year.

23rd January 2014

Esfahani's performances wonderfully convey the sense of the younger Bach flexing his muscles in the new musical language that he was involved in creating.... there's an almost fortepiano-like solidity to the sound, with crisp definition in both the high and low registers that matches its expressive ambitions perfectly.

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CPE Bach: Württemberg Sonatas

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