Chandos Anthems • Arcangelo
Known both as the Chandos Anthems and the Anthems for Cannons, the latter showcasing the name of an estate, Handel was, in 1717, a composer-in-residence for an aristocrat and wrote a collection of ten anthems for use…
HIP
Scorrete lagrime mie – Music for Solo Sackbut
Many of the solo sonatas written for an instrument with continuo, starting some fifteen years into the seventeenth century, were intended for “sopranos,” which might include the violin or the cornetto, as the two…
Johann Helmich Roman • Sue-Ying Koang
I last reviewed an album of the music by Roman last November. I was pleased to explore this Swedish composer’s music in that album; I am also familiar with some of his flute music.
Biber: 1681 Sonatas • Bojan Čičić
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a visual pun on Biber’s name, and at last, this album’s cover does just that—and well.
In Wilhelmine’s Footsteps: Music of the Bayreuth Court
Margravine Wilhelmine von Bayreuth is the focus of this album, although the music presented includes pieces by Johann Pfieiffer, Johann Gotthilf Jänichen, Bernhard Joachim Hagen, and Pietro Locatelli.
Die Kunst der Fuga, Collegium Musicum ’23
This album came in just on the heels of my writing about the use of original instruments as part of HIPP and after a recording of Pachelbel on the piano.
French Love • Justin Taylor @ BEMF 2025
In a full hour recital with only a couple pauses for Taylor to speak briefly with the audience, the French harpsichordist presented a tasteful program of works for the harpsichord from well-known composers, including…
Théotime Langlois de Swarte with Justin Taylor – BEMF 2025
This duo performed Thursday night at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music. The hall was empty, save for a green and gold-decorated harpsichord.
Sonate Accademiche – Veracini
Veracini joins other famed Italians for both his compositional and performance skills at the violin—names like Locatelli, Tartini, Vivaldi, Torelli…
Bach: Music for Three and Four Harpsichords • Cuiller
There’s an infamous quote about the sound of the harpsichord, attributed to the British conductor, Thomas Beecham: The sound of a harpsichord is two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm.
Le cabinet de curiosités • Jeanne
This album, featuring harpsichordist Anastasie Jeanne, a name with which I’m not familiar, features 70 minutes of music from composers you likewise probably are not familiar.
J.S. Bach: Complete Keyboard Works, Volume 10 • Benjamin Alard
Benjamin Alard’s recording of Bach’s keyboard works, continues here in its tenth volume, coupling the trio sonatas for organ (BWV 525-530) with selections from the Anna Magdalena Notebook.
Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Keyboard • Coin & Zanzu
Bach’s sonatas for violin and keyboard are well-recorded; this album features a bonus, in that the final G major sonata comes to us in three versions; the other bonus is participation by Christophe Coin, who plays in…
Corelli and Handel on Recorder • Koudelková
This chamber music recording is headlined by the Czech recorder player, Michaela Koudelková, whom is a new name to me.
L’Entropia • ter Bonet, Duncumb
This recording combines a collection of various early and middle-period baroque sonatas, with the basso continuo support provided by lute.
Handel’s Violin Sonatas
28 tracks and just an hour to explore Handel through the lens of a violinist with continuo. This new release from Arcana presents Handel’s solo violin sonatas alongside a few bonuses, including arias arranged for…
Handel • Colonna
This album features two works that are disparate in style, but the liner notes make the case for them appearing side-by-side, suggesting that Handel must have come across Colonna’s music when he traveled to Rome.
Lachrimae – Capriccio Stravagante
Some weeks ago I took in an online webinar from the Clavecin Society in San Francisco which featured a conversation with Skip Sempé.
Le Tre Soprano
Jeannette Sorrell has released a new recording featuring baroque music inspired from Italy (and Spain). The program is formed around the concept of the three ladies of Ferrara.
J.S. Bach: The Weimar Years
JS Bach: The Weimar Years brings thoughtful programming and polished performances from Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants, pairing three of Bach’s early cantatas with works by Telemann and Johann Michael Bach.
Gulliver’s Travels – String Music by Telemann
We’ve thankfully had several ensembles over the years champion the music of Georg Philipp Telemann, a contemporary of Bach and Handel.
Mystères • Salomé Gasselin
Quickly: arrangements for viol da gamba, gambas, and organ, featuring—among some anonymous pieces—works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. It’s an extraordinary album.
Marin Marais: Pièces inédites pour flûte
On the Alpha Classics label comes another strong album from the Musiciens de Saint-Julien, featuring François Lazarevich on flute (and musette).
Bach • The Art of Fugue • Phantasm
This week I’m continuing my Bach streak by reviewing a counterpoint (ha!) to last week’s review by Albert Cano Smit.
Bach – Works for Clavichord • Suter
At the last Boston Early Music Festival, I sat in a small church to hear a keyboard recital that started with the clavichord. The instrument was so quiet that it was barely audible.
Vivaldi: Violin concertos for Pisendel
I first encountered Federico Guglielmo through his group’s traversal of Giuseppe Tartini’s violin concertos. That series got better over time.
The Scale Knitters – Music by Marais
The year is 1723, and on deck are three pieces by Marin Marais, the by now famous French gamba performer. In just five years he’ll be dead, so these are unquestionably “late pieces” by the student of Lulli and…
Nevermind performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations
This album marks the ten year anniversary of the quartet of French musicians known as Nevermind. I have enjoyed their discs before and marvel how well they play together.
Recorder Concertos from Sanssouci
Ensemble Piccante, led by soloist Isaac Makhdoomi, features three concertos and a vocal aria (played by recorder) from the circle of Frederick the Great. The composers represented include Quantz, Benda, C.P.E.
Altissima: Works for Baroque Trumpet
On Chandos’s Early Music label, in January of 2023 they released an album featuring baroque trumpet. The soloist and band are both North American, with the Ensemble Sprezzatura, directed by Daniel Abraham, being…
Georg Österrich’s Resurrected Treasures
The origin of the music on this album, and how it was put together for this recording, is an interesting pair of stories.
Concerti per violoncello • Hanna Salzenstein
One of the things I admired about this new recording on first glance was the line-up of music, pitting now-familiar Vivaldi concertos next to some that are by less-familiar composers, including three recorded world…
The Age of Extremes – Francesco Corti
When auditioning this new release featuring Francesco Corti on harpsichord, I was hoping the entire album was as impressive as the first track I’d chosen.
Bach’s Oboe • Xenia Löffler
The title of this album gave me a little bit of reservation. While I was in college I started taking some methods classes; these were single credit classes devoted to learning one particular instrument.
Bach’s Musical Offering • Cindy Castillo
The story behind Bach’s Musical Offering shouldn’t need a recount here, as fascinating a story it is. This album is a fascinating recording, for rendering the work on organ.
Bach sous Les Tilleuls • Barrucand & Clément
My original exposure to double-harpsichord music was an oft-referenced album by Skip Sempé and Olivier Fortin, which I believe was titled “Bach - Vivaldi.” While others followed into my collection, this original one set…
Bach Cello Suites • Sollima
For the new year, I wanted to highlight a recently released version of Bach's cello suites. I’ve found some of Giovanni Sollima’s albums interesting, especially those focused on baroque repertoire.
à Amsterdam • Postscript
I finally got the chance to take in the interesting album of Dutch music, played upon Dutch instruments from Postscript, an HIP ensemble featuring two flutes, cello, and harpsichord.
Marais – Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe
I remember seeing Tous les matins du monde in college, likely the first French language film I’d seen. Much of the music in that film, for me, was a revelation, my first in-depth exposure to a world of baroque music I’d…
Mozart’s Requiem • Pygmalion
I found myself, in the middle of my high school experience one summer, outside the influence of my own parents and a guest at my best friend’s aunt and uncle’s house.