Princess Amalia and the Two Bachs

Those that have followed my work for some time know that I do my best not to miss opportunities to write about Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Indeed, one of my favorite quotations is about him, in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart declared “Bach is the father, and we are his children.” During my tenure with Examiner.com, I wrote about the 26 CDs that Ana-Marija Markovina recorded for hänssler to account for his complete works for piano solo; and on this site I concluded my articles about his complete piano concertos recorded by Michael Rische in October of 2022.

This Friday will see the latest release of music by “the father.” Those familiar with his biography know that his career amount to “a tale of two cities.” The first of these was Berlin, where he served Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia (who would late be known as Frederick the Great); and the second was the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, where, as a “civilian,” he was appointed Kapellmeister (music director). The title of the new album is Liebe Amalia…, which refers to Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg, sister of Frederick the Great. She was Frederick’s sister but supported Bach after his departure from Berlin.

Antoine Pesne’s 1744 Portrait de la princesse Anna Amalia de Prusse on the cover of the album being discussed

As can be seen above, Amalia’s portrait graces the cover of this album. While most of the selections on Liebe Amalia… are by Bach, two of them are by Amalia. One of these is a three-movement flute sonata in F major. The other is a song entitled “An das Klavier” (to the keyboard), which is receiving is world premiere recording on this album. To other composers also have selection on this album. One is a polonaise by Bach’s brother, Wilhelm Friedemann, and the other is a trio sonata by Johann Philipp Kirnberger. Taken as a whole, the album accounts for music that Emanuel would have arranged for performance in Hamburg.

The performer whose name earns the largest font on the album cover is flutist Jean Brégnac. He appears on most, but not all, of the tracks. The other major performer is Yoann Moulin, who alternates between harpsichord and clavichord. Due to a printing error in the booklet, one will only be able to ascertain which instrument he is playing by listening! There is also a fortepiano played by Daria Fadeeva, a second flute performed by Nicolas Bouils, cello continuo provided by Jennifer Hardy, and violin for the trio sonata played by Marie Rouquié.

Those who, like myself, cannot get enough of performances of Emanuel’s music will probably share my enthusiasm for this new release!