C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin Rachel Podger & Kristian Bezuidenhout

• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788): Violin Sonata in G Minor, H. 542.5:
• 1 Bach: Violin Sonata in G Minor, H. 542.5: I. [...] 03:51
• 2 Bach: Violin Sonata in G Minor, H. 542.5: II. Adagio 02:43
• 3 Bach: Violin Sonata in G Minor, H. 542.5: III. Allegro 04:55
• Violin Sonata in C Minor, H. 514, Wq. 78:
• 4 Bach: Violin Sonata in C Minor, H. 514, Wq. 78: I. Allegro moderato 08:11
• 5 Bach: Violin Sonata in C Minor, H. 514, Wq. 78: II. Adagio ma non troppo 06:33
• 6 Bach: Violin Sonata in C Minor, H. 514, Wq. 78: III. Presto 05:35
• Arioso con variazioni per il cembalo e violino in A Major, Wq. 79:
• 7 Bach: Arioso con variazioni per il cembalo e violino in A Major, Wq. 79 11:12
• Violin Sonata in B Minor, H. 512, Wq. 76:
• 8 Bach: Violin Sonata in B Minor, H. 512, Wq. 76: I. Allegro moderato 07:19
• 9 Bach: Violin Sonata in B Minor, H. 512, Wq. 76: II. Poco andante 05:17
• 10 Bach: Violin Sonata in B Minor, H. 512, Wq. 76: III. Allegretto siciliano 05:42
• Violin Sonata in D Major, H. 502, Wq. 71:
• 11 Bach: Violin Sonata in D Major, H. 502, Wq. 71: I. Poco adagio 03:23
• 12 Bach: Violin Sonata in D Major, H. 502, Wq. 71: II. Allegro 02:19
• 13 Bach: Violin Sonata in D Major, H. 502, Wq. 71: III. Adagio 02:59
• 14 Bach: Violin Sonata in D Major, H. 502, Wq. 71: IV. Menuet I & II 02:52
• Total Runtime 01:12:51

Info for C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin

The Baroque dream team of Rachel Podger and Kristian Bezuidenhout interpret the astonishing music of C.P.E. Bach’s Violin Sonatas in C Minor, B Minor, D Major and G Minor. The two early sonatas here from the 1730s resemble the older style of his father. Listening to these works, you can imagine J.S. Bach glancing over Emanuel's shoulders while he wrote them as a teenager at home in Leipzig. The later sonatas, written 30 to 50 years later, reveal an emancipated composer whose developed musical language embodies the 'Empfindsamer Stil', the directly emotional and rhetorical style characteristic of northern-german music of the time.

Rachel Podger: “It was wonderful to delve into the specific musical world that belongs to C.P.E. Bach for this recording with Kris. These violin sonatas are (quite unfortunately!) largely overshadowed by the classical Viennese sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. Part of his genius is that he is full of surprises and unpredictable turns, and this was hugely enjoyable for me during the musical partnership with the wonderful Kristian Bezuidenhout.”

Rachel Podger, violin
Kristian Bezuidenhout, harpsichord, fortepiano

Rachel Podger
“the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), has established herself as a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical music periods. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in October 2015, Gramophone Artist of the Year 2018, and Ambassador for REMA’s Early Music Day 2020. A creative programmer, she is the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival and her ensemble Brecon Baroque. Rachel is Patron for the Continuo Foundation.

Following an exciting and innovative new collaboration, A Guardian Angel, with the ‘impeccable’ (Gramophone) vocal ensemble VOCES8, Rachel was thrilled to be one of the Artists in Residence at the renowned Wigmore Hall throughout the 2019/2020 season. The series features Rachel in all-Bach performances as a soloist and with Brecon Baroque. Alongside this, Rachel and Christopher Glynn recorded the world premiere of three previously unfinished Mozart sonatas which were completed by Royal Academy of Music Professor Timothy Jones for release in March 2021.

Rachel featured in The VOCES8 Foundation’s LIVE From London festival in a new advent version of A Guardian Angel. She performed solo Bach for Gramophone Magazine’s Winners’ Digital Gala, appeared in Bitesize Proms, BOZAR at Home, Living Room Live, Baroque at the Edge, and a collaborative disc by Musicians For Musicians Many Voices on a Theme of Isolation. Rachel presented BBC Radio 3’s Inside Music and directed a new arrangement by Chad Kelly, The Goldberg Variations Reimagined. Upcoming engagements include recording a selection of Beethoven sonatas and performances of Mozart and Beethoven with Christopher Glynn, a return to Philharmonia Baroque and San Francisco Early Music, a Four Seasons collaboration with Academy of Ancient Music, and further performances of Bach Cello Suites, The Goldberg Variations Reimagined, and A Guardian Angel.

Rachel is a dedicated educator and holds an honorary position at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She also has a relationship with The Juilliard School in New York.

Kristian Bezuidenhout
is one of today’s most notable and exciting keyboard artists, equally at home on the fortepiano, harpsichord, and modern piano. Born in South Africa in 1979, he began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music, and now lives in London. After initial training as a pianist with Rebecca Penneys, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Kristian first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize, and audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition. Kristian is a regular guest with the world’s leading ensembles including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; and has guest-directed (from the keyboard) the English Concert, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Tafelmusik, Collegium Vocale, Juilliard 415 and the Kammerakademie Potsdam, & Dunedin Consort (Bach St. Matthew Passion).

He has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Bernhard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Giovanni Antonini, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alina Ibragimova, Rachel Podger, Carolyn Sampson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore & Matthias Goerne. Kristian’s rich and award-winning discography on Harmonia Mundi includes the complete keyboard music of Mozart (Diapason d’Or de L’année, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, & Caecilia Prize); the complete Piano Concertos of Beethoven with the Freiburger Barockorchester; Bach Violin Sonatas w. Isabelle Faust; Mozart Violin Sonatas with Petra Müllejans; Mendelssohn and Mozart Piano Concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester (ECHO Klassik); Beethoven, & Mozart Lieder, and Schumann Dichterliebe with Mark Padmore (Edison Award). In 2013 he was nominated as Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year. Upcoming releases include two discs of Mozart Piano Concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester to be recorded in May 2021.

In the 20/21 season, Kristian appears as a soloist with Essener Philharmoniker/Richard Egarr, Les Arts Florissants/William Christie, Kammerorchester Basel/Giovanni Antonini, Orchestre National de France/Emmanuel Krivine and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Klaus Makela. His play-direct visits include Concerto Copenhagen, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester and English Concert. Kristian gives solo recitals, continues his close recital partnership with Anne Sofie von Otter and new collaborations with Voces 8 and Niek Baar.

Booklet for C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Keyboard & Violin