{"id":15799,"date":"2021-04-06T20:24:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T03:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=15799"},"modified":"2021-04-09T09:26:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:26:25","slug":"classical-guitar-album-reviews-jan-depreters-bach-family-masterpiece-duo-coincidencias-latin-gem-a-bestiary-from-petri-kumela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/classical-guitar-album-reviews-jan-depreters-bach-family-masterpiece-duo-coincidencias-latin-gem-a-bestiary-from-petri-kumela\/","title":{"rendered":"Classical Guitar Album Reviews: Jan Depreter’s Bach Family Masterpiece; Duo Coincidencia’s Latin Gem; a Bestiary from Petri Kumela"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY BLAIR JACKSON<\/strong> \/ Editor, Classical Guitar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three recently released classical guitar albums from Jan Depreter, Duo Coincidencia, and Petri Kumela that are very different but nonetheless excellent in their own ways. As always, we have included links to places where these albums can be streamed and\/or purchased, but needless to say, you are not limited to the sites we’ve mentioned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Depreter
<\/strong>J.S. Bach Klavierb\u00fcchlein f\u00fcr Anna-Magdalena Bach 1725\u2014A Selection<\/a><\/em>
(Brilliant Classics)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This remarkable album came out in the summer of 2020, but kind of got lost in the pandemic shuffle a bit, I fear\u2014at least that was my experience. Anyway, it definitely deserves to be heard and appreciated by the greater classical guitar community! The Belgian Jan Depreter <\/a>probably needs no introduction to most of you\u2014he is, quite simply, one of the best living players, a formidable composer, and I trust him playing any <\/em>style. His previous three releases show his range: albums dedicated to the guitar works of Turina and Villa-Lobos and another consisting of modern works written for Julian Bream (Britten’s Nocturnal<\/em>, Walton’s Bagatelles<\/em>, et al). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He previously covered Bach on his disc The Segovia Concert<\/em> (the ever-popular Cello Suite No. 1<\/em>, BWV 1007), but this new release represents a deep and soulful immersion into Bach\u2014and<\/em> Bach’s world. For though J.S. Bach is absolutely the dominant figure on this album, he is not the only composer represented here, and that is because of the original source of these pieces: A “notebook” put together over decades, beginning in 1725, by his second wife, Anna Magdalena, consisting of pieces by J.S., of course, but also sons Carl Philipp Emmanuel (C.P.E), Johann Christian, and Gottfried Heinrich; various friends; and even his French contemporary Francois Couperin. Truly a “family album,” it featured keyboard arrangements of a wide variety of pieces, from vocal music to larger instrumental works. As Depreter says in notes for the album, “While the selection of little musical gemstones is probably best known for its educational purposes in the keyboard world, in my view this music is so much more. It is an intensely personal and charming compendium of the favorite music played on a daily basis in the Bach household.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate email correspondence, Depreter filled out some of the history behind the famous “Notebook” for me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There were two ‘Notebooks’ compiled for\/by Anna Magdalena Bach: The first, dated 1722, contained only works by J.S. Bach; and the second\u2014bound in green leather, dated 1725\u2014also contains works from family friends and Bach\u2019s children. C.P.E. himself added the full name to the initials A.M.B. on the book. Musicologists agree that the charming little piece by Johann Christian was added in his own childlike handwriting around 1744\/45\u2014when he was barely ten years old. Most of the handwriting is Anna Magadelena’s, but Father Bach\u2019s own stern but flawless calligraphy is also discernible throughout the volume. So, importantly, 1725 was the starting point, not the finish line. The volume grew with the family. All the works in my recording are featured in the original, now housed in the Staatsbobliothek zu Berlin. I regret leaving out some wonderful arrangements of, for example, C.P.E.\u2019s Solo per<\/em> ll cembalo<\/em>, for lack of available space on one disc, which is just a few seconds shy of 80 minutes!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pieces on the Depreter album<\/a>\u2014all his own transcriptions\u2014are mostly short works, movements, and songs, and there is much variety: brisk and courtly dances, dramatic arias, more somber and meditative pieces. Each is a showcase for Depreter’s deft and disciplined fingerings. Effective Baroque solo guitar really hinges on the player’s ability to keep the melodic flow rhythmically consistent, manage the movement of the interweaving “bass” parts, and drop in the occasional ornamental filigree; Depreter is masterful on all fronts. There is never a hint of struggle or indecisiveness, which is a credit to both his skill as a player and<\/em> as an arranger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am no Bach expert, by any means, and to my relatively uneducated “ear,” in a blind test I would probably be unable to tell the difference between which pieces are by J.S. Bach and which came from the pen of others, all of whom were no doubt influenced by his pioneering genius. And truth be told, a few of my favorites here are a wonderful set of four pieces by C.P.E. (two “Marches” and two “Polonaises”), a solemn piece by Gottfried Heinrich St\u00f6tzel called Bist du bei mir<\/em>, and Couperin’s lilting Rondeau No. 6<\/em>. Still, as an avowed lover of nearly every J.S. Bach sarabande I’ve heard, it is his beautifully sad and affecting arias sprinkled around this disc that move me the most on this CD. But it is all <\/em>wonderful; don’t miss it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can access the full track list and composers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The album can also be purchased or streamed through Amazon <\/a>or iTunes\/Apple Music<\/a>, or streamed on Spotify<\/a> or YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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