Miklós Spányi is recording all of the keyboard music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach for the Swedish label BIS on original instruments, namely harpsichord, clavichord, and fortepiano. On C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 13, the fortepiano gets the nod, in particular a reconstruction by Michael Walker of a 1749 Silbermann piano of the kind C.P.E. Bach commonly used himself, and the only type of piano ever tried out by his father, Johann Sebastian Bach.
C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 13, is the first volume in the BIS edition that is not unified by a single thematic concept, being subtitled "Sonatas, Sinfonias and Other Pieces." The two sinfonias presented here are Bach's own arrangements of his orchestral sinfonias in G major H. 648 and in E flat major H. 650. Of the two, the second Sinfonia in F major, W. 122/2, H. 104 is the more interesting owing to its use of motor rhythms and obviously orchestral-styled textures. Both sinfonias are rather lightweight; not hackwork, but also not terribly inspired. The Allegretto con variazioni, W. 118/5, H. 65, is pleasant, and even engaging at times, but also seems to radiate a sort of "minor work" energy. The Sonata in D minor, W. 65/24, H. 60, is more unusual than sinfonias in its use of a five-movement formal scheme, whereas the more conservatively structured Sonata in D minor, W. 65/29, H. 83, has more ingratiating themes suggesting an orchestral origin, but none is known. The Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, W. 119/7, H. 75.5, is a rare C.P.E. Bach work that mostly inhabits the stylistic realm of his father. It is a beautiful piece and the best thing on the disc, especially in the rolling chords that typify the "Fantasia."
Spányi's playing is devoted, serious, and never routine, despite that in addition to this being his 13th go at Bach's solo keyboard music, his 13th volume of C.P.E. Bach's Keyboard Concertos are yet to come. If one is already collecting this series, there is certainly no reason to skip this volume, but others more selective about what they obtain from it may want to wait for further entry. The liner notes, by scholar Darrell M. Berg, are well written, thoroughly researched, and most helpful.