Born in Weimar, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-88) was the fifth child and second surviving son of JS Bach and his first wife Maria Barbara. By his own account he had no other teacher for composition and keyboard except his father. Nevertheless, the majority of Emanuel’s earliest works owe more to the influence of Telemann and other exponents of the new galant style, while already suggesting his own progressive instinct. At the age of twenty-four, after seven years studying law, Emanuel decided to devote himself to music. In 1738 he accepted the position of keyboard player at the court of the Prussian crown prince – the future Frederick the Great. After nearly thirty years of royal service he left Berlin and moved to Hamburg, where he occupied the positions of Music Director and Cantor until his death.

Described by the Guardian as a performer of “fearless intensity”, former ECHO Rising Star Tamsin Waley-Cohen has established herself as one of the most insightful and versatile young British violinists. Described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘in a class of his own’ James Baillieu has been the prize-winner of the Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Das Lied International Song Competition, Kathleen Ferrier and Richard Tauber Competitions.

REVIEWS:

This is a very good recording. The exquisite playing of Tamsin Waley-Cohen and James Baillieu is blessed with a nice acoustic and excellent recorded sound. The booklet notes by Philip Borg-Wheeler are quite good too. I find this new recording a little heavy in style, a little traditional if you like, in a manner that preceded the original-instrument movement. It is not the (excellent) performance, but the choice of instruments that I find too big: perfectly fine for those who prefer the bigger, bolder style of playing. The original-instrument brigade need to look somewhere else.

-- MusicWeb International

The loveliness is unceasing. The Arioso theme of the Variations in A (Wq79 H535) is enough to unharden the most hardened of hearts – and these eight bars alone make the entire listening experience worth it. Baillieu’s rhythmic variation in the repeat is lined with thoughtfulness and honesty, the subtlest smell of inégale lingers over his unraveling quavers, while Waley-Cohen purrs beneath with con sordino velvet. Three discs of wonderful music-making, enough to make any father proud.

-- Gramophone