A Festive CPE Premiere

The CPO label is well-known for recording rarely heard (and sometimes rather obscure) pieces of music, and continues this tradition with the present release. CPE Bach, the second son of Johann Sebastian, has in the last two decades been able to step out of his father’s shadow, with many of his works now released on CD. However, his church music is still rather neglected – for example, the cantatas recorded here, written for inauguration services of clergymen in Hamburg, have been looked upon as ‘occasional compositions’ (booklet, p 9), and therefore not worthy of much interest.

Ludger Rémy is a conductor who likes recording pieces that are otherwise neglected by the recording industry. He is a daring artist, and his unconventional character is nicely illustrated by the photograph on the back of the booklet, in which he is shown smoking a…