Father and Son by Einav Yarden

Einav Yarden

Father and Son

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917295221
Catnr: CC 72952
Release date: 12 May 2023
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917295221

Catalogue number
CC 72952

Release date
12 May 2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Einav Yarden: When I first discovered C.P.E Bach’s keyboard music, I remember being completely amazed by its versatility and originality, by its inventiveness, spectrum of expression and its boldness. I was equally astounded by how much he preceded his time, that only one generation away from his father’s High Baroque, and long before the Viennese Classical School fully flourished, he experimented so widely, pushed boundaries tirelessly, and in many ways laid the foundation for what was to become the Classical style. That he influenced Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven is clear and known, but one could also argue that he foreshadowed in certain ways the Romantic period.

With this album I wish to shed light on this brilliant composer’s music, but wanted to do so while placing him next to the composer he most admired, but from whom he also needed to diverge and completely redefine himself – his father, Johann Sebastian Bach. The differences are extreme in every parameter, but some interesting parallels also emerge, as in the relationship to the written improvisation, the fantasia and the rondo.

The majority of the C.P.E. Bach pieces on this album were written in the later part of his career, but two of them were written in the 1740’s, in other words while his father was still alive and writing. Each in its way, they offer a window into this interesting transition period in musical style and in C.P.E.’s composition. The works from his later period further unfold his endless originality and ceaseless urge to experiment. The incredible masterpieces of J.S. Bach are milestones of beauty and perfection - and when heard next to the son’s pieces, they further highlight just how far, and in how many directions, the son went.

This recording was made using a Chris Maene Concert Grand built in 2017. This remarkable instrument combines the knowledge and materials used in modern piano building with those found in older historical instruments. The most striking feature is that unlike in modern grand pianos, in which the strings in the bass and middle registers cross, in this instrument all strings run parallel to each other. As a result, it combines the solidity of a modern concert grand piano with the transparent sound ideal of older instruments

Einav Yarden: Als ich zum ersten Mal C.P.E. Bachs Musik für Tasteninstrumente entdeckte, war ich von ihrer Vielseitigkeit und Originalität, von ihrem Erfindungsreichtum und ihrer Kühnheit völlig überwältigt. Ich war ebenso erstaunt darüber, wie sehr er seiner Zeit voraus war. Nur eine Generation nach dem Hochbarock seines Vaters und lange vor der vollen Entfaltung der Wiener Klassik experimentierte C.P.E. Bach unermüdlich, verschob Grenzen und legte in vielerlei Hinsicht den Grundstein für das, was später der klassische Stil werden sollte. Ohne Frage hat er Haydn, Mozart und Beethoven beeinflusst. Man könnte sogar sagen, dass er auf seine Art auf die spätere Epoche der Romantik verweist.

Mit diesem Album möchte ich die Musik dieses brillanten Komponisten beleuchten und ihn neben den Komponisten stellen, den er am meisten bewunderte, von dem er sich aber auch abgrenzen und völlig neu definieren musste - seinen Vater, Johann Sebastian Bach. Die Unterschiede sind in allen Parametern extrem, aber es zeigen sich auch einige interessante Parallelen, wie z. B. das Verhältnis zur geschriebenen Improvisation, zur Fantasie und zum Rondo.

Die meisten Stücke von C.P.E. Bach auf diesem Album stammen aus dem späteren Teil seiner Karriere, aber zwei von ihnen wurden in den 1740er Jahren geschrieben, mit anderen Worten, als sein Vater noch lebte und schrieb. Jedes von ihnen bietet auf seine Weise einen Einblick in diese interessante Übergangsperiode im musikalischen Stil und in C.P.E.s Komposition. Die Werke aus seiner späteren Schaffensperiode lassen seine unendliche Originalität und seinen unaufhörlichen Drang zum Experimentieren noch deutlicher hervortreten. Die unglaublichen Meisterwerke von J.S. Bach sind Meilensteine der Schönheit und Vollkommenheit - und wenn man sie neben den Stücken des Sohnes hört, machen sie noch deutlicher, wie weit und in wie viele Richtungen der Sohn ging.

Artist(s)

Einav Yarden (piano)

Pianist Einav Yarden is praised for her “…imagination and exceptionally vivid playing…Sense of immense majesty, tempered by gentleness and quiet grace” (The Washington Post, USA), and “glistening rapture…ingenious humor” (Der Tagesspiegel, Germany). She appeared as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestera, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Jerusalem Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic and others, under conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Aldo Ceccato, Steven Sloane, Leon Botstein, Frédéric Chaslin, Simon Halsey and Mendi Rodan. Her engagements over the past seasons include solo performances at the 92nd Street Y in NYC, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot in Paris, Nikolaisaal in Potsdam, Musis Arnhem in the Netherlands, and a solo performance at the...

Pianist Einav Yarden is praised for her “…imagination and exceptionally vivid playing…Sense of immense majesty, tempered by gentleness and quiet grace” (The Washington Post, USA), and “glistening rapture…ingenious humor” (Der Tagesspiegel, Germany). She appeared as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestera, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Jerusalem Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic and others, under conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Aldo Ceccato, Steven Sloane, Leon Botstein, Frédéric Chaslin, Simon Halsey and Mendi Rodan.

Her engagements over the past seasons include solo performances at the 92nd Street Y in NYC, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot in Paris, Nikolaisaal in Potsdam, Musis Arnhem in the Netherlands, and a solo performance at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth, subbing in for the international star Daniil Trifonov with just a few hours’ notice, and leaving the audience “deeply overjoyed and impressed” (Piano News, Germany). Other celebrated stages on which she has performed include the Berlin Philharmonie and the Philharmonie Chamber Music Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Concertgebouw de Vereeniging in Nijgmegen, Schumannsaal in Düsseldorf, Musée d’Orsay Auditorium in Paris, and others.

Einav Yarden released three solo CDs on the label Challenge Classics, all of which received highly enthusiastic international acclaim on leading international magazines as Gramophone, Fono Forum, Diapason, Piano News Magazine, Fanfare Magazine, Luister Magazine, International Piano Magazine, Amadeus Magazine and many others. Her Haydn Sonatas CD was awarded the prestigious German Records Critics’ Prize (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik - Bestenliste). Her fourth CD with this label is scheduled to be released in spring 2023.

She is a passionate chamber musician and enthusiastically incorporates unique repertoire into her programs. Major festival appearances include the Ruhr Piano Festival (Germany), La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival (France), Ravinia Festival (USA), Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Menton Festival, and Flâneries Musicales de Reims Festival (France), Piano Biennale Festival (Netherlands), Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Upper-Galilee Chamber Music Festival (Israel), and others.
Einav Yarden taught chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg from 2016-18 and served as part-time substitute professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, and at the Music Conservatory of the Lucerne University and at the in subsequent years. Among her competition awards are top prizes at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Bonn, the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition and top prizes at the Aviv Competitions in Israel, where she was awarded the piano Guralnik Prize and the prize for best performance of contemporary Israeli work.

She was a longtime student of the legendary pianist Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore (Johns Hopkins University), and prior to that studied with Prof. Emanuel Krasovsky at Tel Aviv University, earning high honors for her Bachelors and Masters degrees at both universities. In her youth she studied with Hadassa Gonen at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv. Other strong influences were received from Richard Goode, Elisso Virsaldaze and Prof. Zvi Meniker (on historical pianos). She was a recipient of the AICF scholarships between 1996-2005. She currently resides in Berlin, Germany.

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Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

It can't be easy to have been a son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was undoubtedly very strict, and if you'd have any composition ambitions, you would have to find a way to step out of the shadow of your father. Luckily, his sons had everything going for them considering their music. Whereas the traditional Baroque music of their father slowly went out of fashion, most of Bach's sons managed to follow the new trends of the early Classicism. In other words: relatively simple, melodic music which is not too heavy on the listener, yet still very passionate. Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach's fifth son, became the most outstanding among his siblings. Like each of Bach's sons, he received a...

Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach's fifth son, became the most outstanding among his siblings. Like each of Bach's sons, he received a solid education from his father, en Carl Philipp developed into a remarkably talented keyboardist. Moreover, he became a prolific composer and of all Bach's sons, he was able to came closest to the quality of his father's work, albeit in a completely different style.

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