Bach and Webern
The Richter Ensemble has released a pairing of Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuga BWV 1080 with the published string quartet music of Anton von Webern. I felt fortunate to hear Mr.
HIP
Dance over Meditation: Biber’s Mystery Sonatas
I can still remember the evening in my dorm room in 1994 when I’d just come back from a music store with a chance buy of something called the Rosenkranz-Sonaten by Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln.
Music for Violin and Bass • OVNI Baroque
Back in May of 2021 an album came out that I’d missed; it features baroque violinist Emmanuelle Dauvin performing works by Bach and Biber. Right up my alley.
New Mozart Cycle • Il Pomo d’Oro
Aparte has commissioned Il Pomo d’Oro under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev to record the symphonies of Mozart; in this edition the first and last symphonies are separated by the A major concerto for piano, K.
Schiff performs Bach on Clavichord
Our concept of baroque keyboards is so fixated on harpsichords and organs. Yet its arguable that the most popular instrument would have been the cheaper, more personal and portable clavichord.
The Couperin Family
Germany had the Bach family, with a rich musical tradition; perhaps the best French analog would be the famille Couperin.
Telemann – Music for Violins
The baroque period, if you’ve been a student of musical history, was all about the basso continuo, the foundation of all music that was played by a keyboard or other bass instrument.
Koopman records Suites by G.F. Handel
In November 1720, Handel published in London his first set of harpsichord pieces entitled Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin.
Handel Op. 6 Concertos • Accademia Bizantina
Handel’s set of 12 concerti grossi have been well-represented in the catalog. It’s understandable as to why; in a sense these are his mirror contributions to compare to those also cataloged as opus 6 by Arcangelo Corelli.
Leclair: Elite de bons mots • The Beggar’s Ensemble
Augustin Lusson already has a few albums out to feature his talents on baroque violin; I have a feeling this one is going to catapult his career in new places.
Leclair: Sonatas for violin and continuo
Leclair’s music has been a favorite of mine for some time; it’s safe to say I am nearly as strong a leclairfan as a biberfan.
Simply Mozart: Don Giovanni, Piano Concerto, Symphony
It wasn’t that long ago that I reviewed another Mozart program by Le Concert de la Loge. The theme with Simply Mozart seems to be to present some of his most popular works.
Vivaldi: Violin Concertos, Volume X
Julien Chauvin (violin/director) and his ensemble, Le Concert de la Loge, have two new releases this week. In this review, we’ll be looking at Volume 10 of the Vivaldi violin concerto series from Naïve that features a…
Handel: Salve Regina – Millenium Orchestra with Julie Roset, dir. Alarcón
This album takes its title from the antiphon for soprano and orchestra by G. F. Handel, HWV 241. Featured in this work and others by Handel is the young soprano Julie Roset.
Walther Scherzi for Violin and Continuo
Johann Jakob Walther ’s suites, or scherzi, are recorded here, all twelve, by Bojan Čičić and the Illyria Consort. The ensemble has already tackled another less well-known violin master, Carbonelli.
Dowland Lessons
The name John Dowland came to me in the context of a music history course. Our professor played some lute pieces on a CD and told us that our next class would have a special guest.
Leipzig 1723
The premise of this album from the Capricornus Consort in Basel is a simple one: let’s perform music by all the top contenders for the St.
Charles-François Clément Sonatas en Trio
Johann Sebastian Bach had made the trio sonata for two instruments, namely violin and harpsichord, a rather novel idea.
Mancini Recorder Sonatas
Yi-Chang Liang (recorder) performs six sonatas by Francesco Mancini with Ensemble IJ Space. The albums liner notes are written by Professor DelDonna of Georgetown which was one of the first complete accounts I’d read of…
Sonatas a Cembalo certato e Violino solo
I appreciate the encyclopedic approach Mr. Pramsohler takes in his latest release with harpsichordist Philippe Grisvard, both principal members of Ensemble Diderot.
A journey through the golden age of the oboe quartet
Released earlier this year in January, Quartetto Bernardini, featuring the HIPP-specialist Alfredo Bernardini, who has made so many excellent recordings of baroque repertoire, turns to the classical oboe quartet.
Alard continues his reference collection of Bach’s Keyboard Works
Of course, the fact that the book begins with the key of C and ends with B, on that compositional peak I mentioned earlier, is not insignificant on the symbolic level; but it doesn’t mean the pieces should be played in…
Biber Sonatas • Musica Alchemica
Lina Tur Bonet is not new to Biber or to virtuosic baroque violin music. Her album covers always speak to some degree of whimsy. Who else would adorn angel’s wings in the liner notes to Biber’s Mystery Sonatas?
Bach on the Lute
Likely the association of Bach with virtuoso Silvius Leopold Weiss led to him leaving us works for lute. By Bach’s time the lute’s heyday was out, but he did leave us a few works of exquisite beauty, even if some are…
Two Goldbergs
I first experienced Bach’s Goldberg Variations by the harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock. From memory, that recording was clean; Pinnock, as ever, was metronome sharp with very clean playing.
CPE Bach Flute Sonatas (Trios/Solo/Piano Fantasia)
Alpha has released a new album featuring flute sonatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of the most famous Bach, Johann Sebastian.
Sempé Plays a Recital Featuring Bach and the Influence of Leonhardt
In his collection of writings and esoteric discussions of music and the instruments used to play them harpsichordist and conductor Skip Sempé published Memorandum XXI, which is the best example we’ll get of a type of…
Le Manuscrit de Madame Théobon
Harpsichordist Christophe Rousset’s latest release on Aparté is a 2 CD set from a recently discovered manuscript once belonging to one Madame Théobon, whom as history tells us, was a 2-year relationship with King Louis…
BACH to the Roots!
I recently auditioned this recording which was released in late September 2020: a collection of Bach’s instrumental works performed by Bremer Barockorchester), a group I often enjoy on YouTube for their fresh…
Bach: Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 • Les InAttendus
Bach’s Art of Fuguing as I like to refer to it, speaking of the word fugue as a verb rather than a noun, is considered by many his last work. There is a legitimate reason for this belief.
Bach (before Bach)
Chouchane Siranossian (violin), Balázs Máté (cello, bass violin), and Leonardo García Alarcón (harpsichord) record early- to late-baroque violin sonatas on Alpha (2021).
Mozart: Sinfonia, Concerto, Symphony
Julien Chauvin leads Le Concert de la Loge in an album focused on a popular Mozart program. The result is tight, transparent, and ultimately very satisfying.
Audax Milestones
It isn’t everyday that musicians are enterprising enough to start their own labels. Johannes Pramsohler founded Audax records to support his own Ensemble Diderot’s recordings, in addition to a number of musician friends.
Specchio Veneziano
Young French chamber ensemble Le Consort has recorded a new album on Alpha of some 68 minutes dedicated to Venetian chamber music by Reali (1681-1751) and Vivaldi (1768-1741).
Bach: Die Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079 • Ensemble Barockin’
Bach's offering, of course, was a collection of pieces he prepared after a visit to Frederick the Great, where his son Carl Phillip Emannuel was employed, printed at his own expense, built upon a rather chromatic theme…
Antonio Vandini: Complete Works • Elinor Frey
According to the liner notes in this new album featuring Canadian-American cellist Elinor Frey, we don’t know terribly much about Antonio Vandini, save for the fact that he was a good cellist, one who performed with…
Violin Concertos volume 9: Le nuove vie
The Naïve Classics Vivaldi series is now joined with a new album featuring violinist Boris Begelman with Alessandrini’s Concerto Italiano in label's ninth edition for solo violin, Le nuove vie.
La Famille Rameau • Justin Taylor
Justin Taylor followed his earlier recital idea presented in La Famille Forqueray, by choosing pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Concerti Particolari • Onofri
Academia Montis Regalis, under the direction of Enrico Onofri, have released a disc of eleven Vivaldi concertos. Particolari refers to particular, or special in Italian.
Lalande: Les fontaines de Versailles, court music
While I would be forgiven, I hope, in listening to no other music save for the bigger names, to the music of Bach, of Handel, to other greats such as Mozart or Beethoven, the historically-informed movement won’t last by…