Kouzov, Laul: Bach – Viola Da Gamba Sonatas (FLAC)

Performer: Dmitry Kouzov, Peter Laul
Composer: Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Size: 343 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

01. Viola da gamba Sonata in C major, Wq. 136, H. 558: I. Andante
02. Viola da gamba Sonata in C major, Wq. 136, H. 558: II. Allegretto
03. Viola da gamba Sonata in C major, Wq. 136, H. 558: III. Arioso
04. Viola da gamba Sonata in D major, Wq. 137, H. 559: I. Adagio ma non tanto
05. Viola da gamba Sonata in D major, Wq. 137, H. 559: II. Allegro di molto
06. Viola da gamba Sonata in D major, Wq. 137, H. 559: III. Arioso
07. Viola da gamba Sonata in G minor, Wq. 88, H. 510: I. Allegro moderato
08. Viola da gamba Sonata in G minor, Wq. 88, H. 510: II. Larghetto
09. Viola da gamba Sonata in G minor, Wq. 88, H. 510: III. Allegro assai

A True Treat

I love CPE Bach’s music, and I really love these sonatas and these readings. Kouzov and Laul are very sensitive both to the appropriateness of their performance style for these works and, more importantly, to the expressive nuances and subtleties of these wonderful chamber works. (The performances can be classified as somewhere between “period” and “modern”, but leaning to “period”.)

Two of the sonatas date from the mid 1740s, the third from 1759. I found each movement of each one (they’re all three movement works) to be a gem. In these readings, the exquisite beauty of the surface details and inventive harmonic language cannot eclipse the deep feelings that well up and engulf the listener. Within their intimate confines, these sonatas carry a whole world of emotion. While the forms and textures still hue to the baroque, it’s clear here that Bach has forged a very forward looking language. If he had no direct imitators, the very “soul” of these works looks way ahead, as if Bach were a sort of preclassical Schumann.

Packaging and documentation are what you expect from Naxos. Really, if you care about CPE Bach, don’t miss this peerless recording.