Controcorrente Orchestra - Bach Sons - Symphonies by J. C. Bach, J. C. F. Bach, W. F. Bach & C. P. E. Bach (2020) [Hi-Res]

Symphonies of Bach’s Sons by the Controcorrente Orchestra: a new dynamic Italian Baroque Orchestra makes its debut with not mainstream symphonies! As the name indicates, they choose to swim against the current and explore hidden gems of the repertoire. But not only are they original, young, and full of dynamic energy, but the result is also simply stunningly good and makes this music come alive as if those pieces were created for the first time. Choosing four of Bach’s sons, all born between 1710 and 1735, and programming their exploration of the then-new genre between c.1755 and c.1770, when the five Sinfonie recorded here were composed. Three keywords are essential: Galant Italian style, German Empfindsamer style, and the European Sturm und Drang movement. It’s all about cantabile and sensitivity in the first two cases and about unbridled emotions announcing the romantic era in the third one… In conclusion, with these five rarely-heard symphonies by four of Bach’s sons, the Controcorrente Orchestra offers a captivating insight into the mid-eighteenth-century symphony repertoire across Northern Germany and England, which is quite representative of a genre that we too often know only through its later and most famous Viennese protagonists, Haydn and Mozart.