Flutist
Jean Brégnac
, playing a copy of a lovely, tonally precise
August Grenser
instrument, writes his own notes for this
Harmonia Mundi
release, casting the program as a fanciful narration of the life of
Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia
, with lighter music at the beginning and a darker mood later on. The music is not only by
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
and
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
, to whom
Amalia
served as patroness, but also by
herself, who was a composer, instrumentalist, and woman of letters admired by Voltaire, among others. Her music has been little investigated, and for listeners interested in the history of music by women, this album will be a must-have.
Anna Amalia
's
Flute Sonata in F major
and her lied
An das Klavier
(an intriguing text indeed) are fully accomplished works. There are several early examples of the lied here by
C.P.E. Bach
as well, and these are strong draws;
Mozart
, another early song writer, may have known these songs. The program matches
Brégnac
's concept, with early Trio Sonatas from
C.P.E.
giving way to his later, more irregular and ornate style. Best of all is the sheer variety of
's program, which cuts a swath through the musical styles of Germany in the middle 18th century and includes a variety of instruments.
Daria Fadeeva
's fortepiano is a fine
Chris Maene
copy of a
Stein
instrument, and there are also copies of an old harpsichord and clavichord. The result is an impressively varied collection of genres and sonorities that will keep things interesting not only for enthusiasts of this period but for any audience at all. The only real complaint is
's church sound, which adds a lot of huffing and puffing but not much else. A standout release. ~ James Manheim