Oct 12, 2018
- Released
- 2018
- Length
- 1:10:51
This recent album from Arend Grosfeld, all of four minutes shy of an hour, is a solo recital of music for harpsichord featuring works by…
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Reviews
Oct 12, 2018
Oct 2, 2018
- Composers
- Francesco Geminiani
- Label
- Alpha Classics
- Catalog no
- Alpha 396
- Released
- 2018
Geminiani: concertos (op. 7), H. 115-H.120, performed by Café Zimmermann (Alpha, 2018).
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Geminiani: Concerti Grossi op. 7
Sep 23, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
What first caught my attention in this new album featuring violinist Jonas Zschenderlein and harpsichordist Alexander von Heißen was the…
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Pure – Bach in Italy
Aug 25, 2018
- Composers
- Max RichterAntonio Vivaldi
I was late to the party, but I’d already realized that the opening to the Netflix show A Chef’s Table featured Vivaldi, but it had been…
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Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, the Four Seasons
Jul 13, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- Decca
- Catalog no
- 483 2329
- Released
- 2017
Reading the liner notes, there certainly seems to be some reverence for this work, Bach’s unfinished legacy, his art della fuga from…
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Bach: The Art of Fugue Accademia Bizantina
Jun 2, 2018
Ensemble Diderot regulars Johannes Pramsohler (violin) and Philippe Grisvard (harpsichord) have released a 2-disc recital of sonatas for keyboard and violin by the likes of several French composers: Of these names, I know some of them as through their solo…
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French Baroque Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard
May 10, 2018
- Composers
- Astor PiazzollaClaudio Monteverdi
In [a recent review]Misterio — Baroque Review featuring the music of Astor Piazzolla, known composer of nuevo tango music, I had some…
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Piazzolla and Monteverdi. What?!
Apr 29, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- BIS
The story of Bach’s Musical Offering is an interesting one. I’ve dedicated two podcast episodes to pieces from this collection, and also…
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Musical Offering(s) Maasaki Suzuki
Apr 2, 2018
Music, and art in general, should challenge us: our notions, our perception of quality, and over time, hopefully our tastes. This album is challenging for me.
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Misterio (Biber and Piazzolla)
Mar 21, 2018
- Label
- Brilliant Classics
On this disc I have assembled a collection of ostinato pieces, not necessarily chaconnes or passacailles, but all kinds of pieces that…
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Basso Ostinato Pieter-Jan Belder
Mar 21, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- Nonesuch
- Catalog no
- 7559-79318-0
- Released
- 2018
It was Keith Jarrett who first took on Bach among today’s popular jazz pianists with recordings of Bach’s WTC and Goldberg Variations…
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Brad Mehldau: After Bach
Feb 11, 2018
I’m always on the look-out for new musicians. Noally fit the bill, and his 2013 recording, made within a very live acoustic, features works for solo violin from Vilsmayr, Telemann, von Westhoff, Baltzar, Bach, and Biber.
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a violino solo Tibualt Noally
Feb 4, 2018
The diversity of composers represented on this disc, in addition to their stylistic backgrounds (the Finger piece vs. the CPE Bach Flute Sonata are as about as different as you could imagine), paints a very interesting picture about chamber music popular…
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ROCOCO – Musique à Sanssouci
Feb 4, 2018
- Composers
- George Frideric Handel
- Label
- Audax Records
- Catalog no
- ADX13709
- Released
- 2017
For this recording, I wanted to share the joy of exploring the different faces of Handel, covering a period from approximately 1700-1740…
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Handel Works for Keyboard Grisvard
Feb 4, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- Naïve
- Catalog no
- OP 30567
- Released
- 2017
Artists: some strive to be different. We typically get recordings of, say, Bach violin concertos, but this program is more about the…
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Bach in Black Sinkovsky
Jan 21, 2018
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
The Korean pianist known as “Ji,” whose full name of Ji-Yong Kim, has recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, on his debut album for…
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Bach Goldberg Variations Ji
Oct 29, 2017
- Label
- Brilliant Classics
- Catalog no
- 93649
- Released
- 2008
- Length
- 2:55:15
Georg Philipp Telemann, who lived contemporaneously with Bach and Handel, represents a great example of “the successful” composer from the…
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Paris Quartets Nevermind
Oct 13, 2017
- Label
- Glossa
- Catalog no
- GCD 922514
- Released
- 2015
- Length
- 1:12:33
Antonio Caldara: Trio Sonatas. (2015, June). Amandine Beyer, Leila Schayegh (violins), Jonathan Pesek (cello), Jörg-Andreas Bötticher…
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Caldara Trio Sonatas
Oct 13, 2017
- Label
- Archiv Produktion
- Catalog no
- 419 256-2
- Released
- 1986
- Length
- 59:50
I once remembered reading that Johann Sebastian Bach had "invented the piano concerto." That statement was a strange one, but it was with…
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Konzerte für 2 Cembali Musica Antiqua Köln
Oct 13, 2017
- Composers
- Antonio Vivaldi
Back in my school days, after discovering Bach and Vivaldi (the harpsichord concertos, L’Estro Armonico), my interest eventually led me to…
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Vivaldi’s Four Seasons English Concert
Aug 13, 2017
- Composers
- Franz Benda
Anton Steck has released a number of CDs with Christian Rieger featuring violin sonatas for CPO with snail shells on the covers.
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Benda Violin Sonatas
Jul 21, 2017
- Composers
- Weichlein
- Label
- Alpha
WEICHLEIN: Opus 1 (1695), Johann Kuhnau, Georg Böhm, Johann Pachelbel, Johann Kaspar Kerll, Georg Muffat. Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin.
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Romanus Weichlein and Friends
Jul 21, 2017
- Composers
- Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
- Label
- Ricercar
- Catalog no
- RIC 381
- Released
- 2017
Boismortier, né Joseph Bodin, became a composer of drinking songs and worked professionally as a tax collector.
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Boismortier Sonatas & Trios
Jul 21, 2017
- Composers
- François Francoeur
The cover of this new release is a little misleading. It reproduces a historical painting of a woman bringing two drinks on a tray, water…
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Francoeur Sonatas
May 27, 2017
- Composers
- Antonio Vivaldi
- Label
- Brilliant Classics
L'Arte dell'Arco offers 20 CDs of Vivaldi's published works
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Vivaldi: Box Set, opp. 1-12 L’Arte dell’Arco
Apr 30, 2017
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
In my efforts to better apprciate some pieces of music, and those specifically by J.S. Bach, I like to hear arrangements.
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Bach Exhibition
Apr 30, 2017
- Composers
- JSBachCPEBachWFBach
- Label
- Erato
There is a story to be told, and it has been told to be sure, about Bach's genesis of the "harpsichord concerto." It's significant because…
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Dynastie
Apr 23, 2017
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- Sony
Stuart Duncan is out this round, but the musicians otherwise have already collaborated to a great degree with remarkable results in the…
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Bach Trios
Feb 19, 2017
- Composers
- Georg Philipp Telemann
IGA is undertaking a major project around Haydn’s symphonies but is also finding the time to explore Baroque works.
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“Telemann” Antonini
Feb 19, 2017
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
We know Mozart liked Bach’s music, especially this fugues and ability with counterpoint.
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Arranging and Arranged Bach
Aguas de Amazonia by Philip Glass Feb 19, 2017
- Composers
- Philip Glass
Most recently a concert was advertised in town for Philip Glass’s 80th birthday. I couldn’t get tickets, as it was sold out.
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Aguas de Amazonia by Philip Glass
Jan 8, 2017
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
I paid over $30 for a single CD of Bach’s first solo violin sonata (BWV 1001), his second partita (BWV 1004), and the third partita (BWV…
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Bach: Works for Violin, BWV 1001, 1004, 1006
Jan 8, 2017
- Composers
- JSBach
- Label
- ECM Records
- Catalog no
- ECM 1765
- Released
- 2001
I am glad I had the opportunity to audition De occulta philosophia first, what I might call a “companion” or “sister” album to this one.
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Morimur
Dec 31, 2016
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Label
- Glossa
- Catalog no
- GCD P30107
- Released
- 2004
I am not sure where I first encountered mention of this album which was first released in the late 1990s.
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J.S. Bach: Bach De occulta philosophia
Corelli Opus 5Onofri Dec 19, 2016
- Composers
- Corelli
This is a review of the two volumes of Corelli sonatas by Enrico Onofri with Imaginarium Ensemble, emphasizing the new, second volume, but…
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Corelli Opus 5 Onofri
Mondonville, op. 2 Dec 11, 2016
- Composers
- Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville
J.J. Cassanéa de Mondonville (c. 1711-1772) The premise presented here suggests that France never really “owned” the violin, at least to…
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Mondonville, op. 2
Dec 10, 2016
- Label
- Alpha Classics
- Catalog no
- ALPHA 250
- Released
- 2016
- Length
- 1:09:57
Anna Prohaska and Il Giardino Armonico partner to bring a collection of opera arias in an Alpha album entitled Serpent and Fire, (p) 2016.
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Serpent and Fire
Oct 20, 2016
- Composers
- Meister
- Label
- Audax
- Released
- 2016
It was with special glee that I discovered the “last” recording by Musica Antiqua Köln, seemingly not long ago, left over as a “lost”…
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Il giardino del piacere Ensemble Diderot
Modern String QuartetBach’s Art of Fugue Sep 24, 2016
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
A couple years ago, I'd selected a recording by the Modern String Quartet of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier for string quartet, and really…
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Modern String Quartet Bach’s Art of Fugue
Jun 1, 2016
- Composers
- QuentinGuillemain
- Label
- Alpha Classics
- Catalog no
- Alpha 235
- Released
- 2015
On the Alpha label, ensemble Nevermind has released a recording of works by Jean-Baptiste Quentin and Louis-Gabriel Guillemain entitled…
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Conversations
Jan 26, 2016
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
I came to Bach’s Goldberg Variations somewhat early in my listening career (which, admittedly is strange to call a career, but I assume you…
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Bach: Goldberg Variations Fretwork
Jan 23, 2016
- Composers
- Johann Sebastian Bach
There was something that turned me off to this release when it came out, which I now realize, had nothing to do with the actual performance…
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Bach: Alio modo Fretwork
Enigmatic Art: Works by F.M. Veracini Jan 7, 2016
- Composers
- Francesco Maria Veracini
- Label
- Oehms Classics
- Catalog no
- OC 720
- Released
- 2007
It is a different album in which a violinist appears on the cover (seems appropriate), but wherein a collection of works by Francesco Maria…
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Enigmatic Art: Works by F.M. Veracini
Jan 3, 2016
- Composers
- Antonio Vivaldi
L’Arte dell’Arco link to iTunes releases by this ensemble under Federico Guglielmo has released on the Brilliant Classics label two…
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Vivaldi Complete Cello and Complete Oboe Concertos
Dresden Trio SonatasEnsemble Diderot Dec 29, 2015
Ensemble Diderot, led by Johannes Pramsohler on violin, presents a number of chamber pieces by Handel, Fux, Fasch, Tuma, and Telemann with ties to Dresden and the violinist-composer Pisendel.
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Dresden Trio Sonatas Ensemble Diderot
The New Four Seasons Nov 27, 2015
- Composers
- Antonio Vivaldi
- Label
- Sony Classical
- Catalog no
- 88875076722
- Released
- 2015
I was in high school when the first of Nigel Kennedy’s Vivaldi: Four Seasons recordings came out, recorded on EMI with the English Chamber…
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The New Four Seasons
Corelli Telemann Leclair Handel Albicastro Nov 26, 2015
- Composers
- Arcangelo CorelliGeorg Philipp TelemannJean-Marie LeclairGeorge Frideric Handel
- Label
- Audax Records
- Catalog no
- ADX13700
- Released
- 2014
Pramsohler recorded this album with Philippe Grsvard in 2013 on the Audax label, his own, providing for us a “mid-late Baroque” violin…
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Corelli Telemann Leclair Handel Albicastro
Chaconne: Voices of Eternity Nov 25, 2015
- Label
- Analekta
- Catalog no
- AN 2 9132
- Released
- 2015
- Length
- 49:21
This is, hands down, my favorite album of 2015. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t see it coming. Matthias Mauté and Co.
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