Am 21.12.2014 um 22:45 schrieb j. van den hoff <veedeehjay@googlemail.com>:

I guess your context version is too old because the current version in the standalone
installation of context shows the italic and bold styles.

I use

mtx-context     | ConTeXt Process Management 0.60
mtx-context     |
mtx-context     | main context file: /opt/local/share/texmf-texlive/tex/context/base/context.mkiv
mtx-context     | current version: 2014.05.21 22:04

do you have any idea whether this already is 'too old'? if it is: is it recommendable to
actually install standalone context beside/instead of the version included in texlive?
(I mean, if the actual goal is to write some documents rather than diving deep into context for
its own sake ;-))

Yes this version is too old, you need a context from august or later.

Wolfgang