“The Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt (Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt (GKO)) was founded in 1964 in Tbilisi/Georgia. After twenty-six years, the ensemble has moved to Ingolstadt, where it has made its second home. The former orchestra-in-exile has become a fixture in cultural life both locally and further afield. Even today the orchestra still consists almost of musicians from Georgia, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. Together with their artistic director Ariel Zuckermann, the GKO performs C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerti. “”Sensitive Sturm und Drang”” – The Flute Concertos by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach When a critical edition of the G major flute concerto by Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel was published in 1973, the classical music world was astounded by this advanced music. Here, the flute fully appears as the perfect mouthpiece for the “”sensitive style”” and the Sturm und Drang in music. Bold voice leading, harmonies rich in dissonance, surprising turns, irritating caesurae: these are the central characteristics. “”It seems to me that music should not flatter the ear, but should first and foremost stir the heart””, was one of Carl Phillip Bach’s demands. It is therefore by no means primarily a matter of formal-harmonic beauty, but rather of the message and how it can be precisely and unerringly effective. In this sense, the composer makes the performer understand his feelings in order to move him to “”co-feeling””. “”In dull and sad passages, he becomes dull and sad. You can see and hear it in him.”” How much CPE Bach points ahead to Beethoven with this creative profile is astonishing. Indeed, some affects, unison passages, idiosyncratic modulations or use of pauses are similar. While the flute concerto in A minor was originally written in 1750 as a cello concerto, today it is beyond doubt that the harpsichord version of the D minor concerto was written after the flute original. Moreover, as editor of the latest edition, the flutist András Adorján, a teacher of Ariel Zuckermann in Munich, was able to correct some transcription errors in the musical text of this concerto. The G major concerto, on the other hand, is generally regarded as one of the most technically demanding works for this instrumentation. With the printing of this work in 1973, the renaissance of the Bach sons in general was considerably advanced. Dr. Marco Frei”
