Johannes Pramsohler and Philippe Grisvard team up with violin and harpsichord with a baroque recital featuring an interesting mixture of…
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I am currently reading Glass’ autobiography, which highlights his travels to different countries and also his education as a composer.
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My first introduction to Telemann’s “wind concertos” was a recording released on DG Archiv by Musica Antiqua, Köln of Blasermusik.
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This is the premier solo recording for Aya Hamada, and one that features pièces by the French composer Jacques Duphly.
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Looking towards the early baroque, I wanted to visit a composer that often is sampled from in recordings, one who well-represents the early…
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Fabio Biondi (violin) and Europa Galante release a recording of Vivaldi “farewell” concertos, drawn from a collection late in the…
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May 30, 2015
After her Goldberg recording, Ms. Ishizaka has now released the first book to Bach’s Wohltempierte Clavier, BWV 846-869.
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Mahan Esfahani has joined forces with DG Archiv ensemble Concerto Köln for a release entitled Time Present and Time Past.
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Released on the Çedille label this year, the Trio Settecento has recorded the complete opus 2 collection by Francesco Maria Veracini, which…
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Venice Baroque, directed by Andrea Marcon, backs Philippe Jaroussky in arias written for the baroque castrato, Farinelli. In two tracks, Jaroussky is joined by Cecilia Bartoli, who it must be said, already explored this repertoire in her own release…
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Feb 17, 2015
Maurice Steger records recorder pieces from the mid-Baroque from Naples, during a short period when the instrument there became popular enough to see the composition for it, from a number of composers.
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Feb 16, 2015
I first encountered Rondeau through YouTube. He was playing as part of a small trio ensemble, and I looked for more.
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Feb 5, 2015
Bach’s paired keyboard pieces known as the Well-tempered clavier is among his most appreciated works for keyboard. He wrote two volumes of these paired pieces, each pair in its own key, a coupling of prelude and fugue.
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Jan 25, 2015
To my mind, when I hear the name “Couperin” I often immediately think of the harpsichord.
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Jan 18, 2015
Recently, I have noticed there are a number of new harpsichordists on the scene.
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A continuation of an earlier release by the same ensemble, combines two sonatas by Pisendel with those of his friends, including Antonio Vivaldi. Adrian Chandler, violin, records a second CD featuring violin sonatas focused on the baroque violinist Pisendel.
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Jasmine and Last Dance were highly marketed releases from the late Charlie Haden (on bass) and Keith Jarrett (on piano).
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Ensemble Aurora led by violinist Enrico Gatti performs violin sonatas by Arcangelo Corelli.
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Dec 29, 2014
Many eons ago, before 2000, when my website was a dark blue color, and I used to edit everything in HTML, I started doing "mini-reviews" of…
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Versatile violinist Shunske Sato records Telemann in a solo recital. Sato came to my attention through a video of him performing with…
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When I was at the Lufthansa Baroque Festival several years ago in May, I heard a version of Ensemble Marsyas perform at St.
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Bach's Die Kunst der Fuga is a true favorite piece of music of mine (BWV 1080).
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Michael Sneider and his colleagues from both La Stagione Frankfurt and Camerata Köln released in 2012 on CPO their final installment of…
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On the heels of another review of a Bach arrangement, I have another, using a family of saxophones to reveal Bach's contrapuntal art with…
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I was not currently looking for another reading of Bach's "24" or "48." With harpsichord and piano versions already well established by…
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Sep 7, 2014
I recently purchased the recordings of L'Arpeggiata on Alpha in a box set, and included is a CD of music by Kapsberger (known best…
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Sep 7, 2014
The Ensemble Contraste has recorded a number of transcriptions of J.S.
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Gunar Letzbor with Ars Antiqua Austria (2013—Arcana) I'll start by writing that I was not a fan of this ensemble's earlier recording of…
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Back in the late 1980s when I became aware of my affinity for baroque music, the most well-known harpsichordists were Trevor Pinnock and Christopher Hogwood thanks to how records were distributed here in the US.
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This release is up there with other output from the Standards Trio, with plenty to enjoy. There's a consistency with Jarrett, at least when it comes to the playing of standards.
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Ars Antiqua Austria have recorded Johann Joseph Fux's Partite for strings. Letzbor and friends record J. J.
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Jul 14, 2014
The discography for Tomaso Albinoni is firmly centered around his concertos for oboe, from which the "Adagio" is likely his most famous…
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Jul 14, 2014
My only exposure to Handel's solo harpsichord music was through a 1980s CD by Trevor Pinnock and a later recording on piano by Keith Jarrett.
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Nicola Porpora is likely best known not for his chamber music, but his role as a teacher and opera composer in 18th century Italy.
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The All of Bach project is an audacious program of the Netherlands Bach Society to record all of Bach's works by 2022.
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It's been some time since I've had "the time" to write any reviews, let alone anything on this site. Today was my graduation ceremony, and while that means I hopefully gain some time to myself to write here, it also opens up some new projects relating to our…
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Mar 5, 2014
I actually don't want to write about "authenticity" in musical performance in this post at all, but to be fair, I feel it's necessary to define the term as I choose to use it: authenticity: a quality of performance that is true to some ideal, whether it is to…
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Jan 1, 2014
Andras Schiff has been in the "news" of late, after a series of successful concerts and awards.
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Jan 1, 2014
Bach Collegium Japan records volume 54 of their Bach Cantata Series for BIS.
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I have a profoundly narrow scope of music I listen to, although over the past 5-8 years I have been consciously trying to expand that.
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Dec 27, 2013
I spied this new recording several weeks ago, but waited patiently for it to perhaps arrive as a Christmas gift. I wasn't disappointed.
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Dec 4, 2013
This album is more about the music of Ludovico Einaudi than the piano playing of Jeroen van Veen.
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Nov 17, 2013
Corelli, it seems, has been considered a "gold standard" among composers, at least historically speaking.
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Nov 5, 2013
I was a fan of Café Zimmermann's traversal of Bach concertos on the Alpha label.
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Oct 15, 2013
Recorded in 1993 at St. Jude's on the Hill, this was among the first of Collegium Musicum 90's recordings on Chandos Chaconne.
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Oct 6, 2013
Back from his Opus 111 days, Fabio Biondi recorded five sonatas by G. Tartini.
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Oct 6, 2013
The Imaginarium Ensemble performs late baroque works for violin and basso continuo by Tartini, Veracini, Mossi, and Bonporti. This release on Pasacaille seems to be a re-print of an album originally produced for the Japanese market.
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Sep 11, 2013
"The Secrets of [the] Baroque Violin" sounds like an interesting title for a recording (or book).
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