Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin • Leila Schayegh
We are so blessed, I feel, to have a number of new recordings, stepped in historical practice, of Bach's solo violin works.
HIP
Mr. Couperin – Pieces from the Bauyn manuscript
This album of harpsichord works by “Mr Couperin” is an excellent demonstration of the concept that Ricercar’s recordings might, in a way, be regarded as individual pages in a history of music.
Bach: Violin Concertos • Carmignola
This album came out some years ago; when it came out I probably avoided it because of it's soloist. I'd found some of his performances featuring Italian concertos a tad too sentimental in the middle (slow) movements, to…
De Fesch Concertos
La Sfera Armoniosa performs concertos by Willem de Fresch (dir. Mike Fentross) Lidewij van der Voort leads on violin in this recording of six concerti grossi and a solo violin concerto by the Dutch contemporary of…
Biber: Harmonia artificioso-ariosa
Der Musikalische Garten this past year released Biber's HAA on Coviello Classics. The collection is of seven suites for small string ensemble, many employing scordatura tunings. This collection has grown on me over time.
Handel: Grand Concertos
Of Handel's offically published works, his opus 6 concertos can almost be considered analogues of those published earlier by Arcangelo Corelli, also an opus 6.
Handel Suites pour clavecin
Among the three “big” German baroque giants, J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and G.P. Telemann, all three wrote keyboard works, but Bach probably stands as the most celebrated.
The Köln Recording – Bach’s St. John Passion
My first recording of the St. John Passion, BWV 245, was by Maasaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan. It became my reference recording simply becahse I lived with that one recording for so long.
Bach Little Books
The repertoire on this CD is taken from seven sources that bring us closer to Bach the musician, composer and teacher in his domestic milieu.
Bach: Redemption
Anna Prohaska with Lautten Compagney, dir. Wolfgang Katschner on Alpha Disques (rel. 12 June 2020), accessed in 96kHz/24 bit via Qobuz I had the weirdest dream.
Barricades
Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford are the headliners in a new release on Erato of French music: Couperin, Visée, Lambert, Marais, etc., and they are joined in some pieces by Lea Desandre, Marc Mauillon (singers), and…
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 • Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock—harpsichordist and orchestra leader—has played an important role in my life, specifically to the discovery and enjoyment of baroque music.
La Bellezza • Lina Tur Bonet and Musica Alchemica
Baroque violinist Lina Tur Bonet releases a new album entitled La bellezza: The Beauty of 17th Century Violin Music on Pan Classics (2020) with over 60 minutes of music—and it's good.
Toccatas BWV 910-916 • Pieter-Jan Belder
Bach's Toccatas, unlike his "other collections" of pieces, say, the Six Partitas, the Well-Temepered Clavier, etc., was not conceived as a collection, per se.
Concerti per violino volume 8 – Il Teatro
Naïve's latest violin concerto release in their Vivaldi series, concertos for the theatre, feature a newish ensemble, founded in 2015, Le Concert de la Loge.
Luigi Rossi: Vocal Music
Luigi Rossi: La lyra d’Orfeo & Arpa Davidica. L’Arpeggiata, dir. Christina Pluhar, featuring Véronique Gens, Jakub Józef Orlinski, Valer Sabadus, Giuseppina Bridelli, Philippe Jaroussky, and Céline Scheen.
Into Nature: Vivaldi Seasons • Imaginarium Ensemble
Into Nature - Vivaldi Seasons and Other Sounds from Mother Earth. Imaginarium Ensemble, Enrico Onofri, violin, director. Passacaille, (p) 2019; Time: 64:00.
Mario Brunello and Rachel Podger Flip-Flop
I need to first start by saying what I mean by flip-flop. Both artists have released recordings of Bach's works; Rachel Podger performs the Bach Cello Suites on violin (BWV 1007-1012) and Mario Brunello chooses a…
The Oboe (in Dresden)
Xenia Löffler offers a recital on the Accent label featuring works for oboe from the collection of music by Pisendel, the violinist and orchestra leader in Dresden during the mid-18th century.
Telemann Grand Concertos, volume 3
Georg Philipp Telemann, The Grand Concertos for Mixed Instruments, Volume 3. La Stagione Frankfurt. CPO, (p) 2016; Time: 63:00; Rating: (4.5/5).
Bach – Couperin
Johann Sebastian Bach: Overture/Partita, BWV 831; François Couperin: 8ième ordre, Pièces de clavecin, book 2). Encelade, (p) 2011; Time: 62 minutes; Rating: (4/5).
Telemann – Trios and Quartets (and a solo)
Georg Philipp Telemann, Trios & Quartets. Epoca Barocca. CPO, (p) 2011; Time: 66:00; Rating: (4.5/5). Telemann was a prolific composer.
Spicy – Music by Biber, Schmelzer, Fux, Schmelzer
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Johann Joseph Fux, Andreas Anton Schmelzer, Spicy: Exotic Music for Violin. Les Passions de l’Ame, Meret Lüthi (violin, direction).
Bach Concertos • Shunske Sato
Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach Violin Concertos (BWV 1041, 1042, 1043, 1056R). Shunske Sato, Il Pomo d’Oro. Erato, (p) 2018; Time: 52:00; Rating: (4.5/5).
ACRONYM Biber
Heinrich Franz von Biber, the Battle, the Bethel, and the Ball (works for strings and voice). ACRONYM. Olde Focus Recordings, FCR913, (p) 2018; Time: 69:00; Rating: (5/5).
Scarlatti Sonatas • Jean Rondeau
Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas (15 sonatas). Jean Rondeau, harpsichord. Erato, (p) 2018; Time: 81:00. One of the things I have been enjoying with Jean Rondeau’s solo recordings is the choices he makes for instruments.
Virtuoso Recorder Works – Souvenirs d’Italie
(various). /Souvenirs d’italie: Concerti & Sonate/. Maurice STEGER and friends. Harmonia Mundi HMC 902253. (p) 2016; Time: 72:39 I first became acquainted with Steger in his collaboration with Reinhard Goebel (Telemann…
Guillemain Flute Quartets, op. 12
I’d already collected two albums by the ensemble known as fantasticus, one of french chamber works (Sonnerie and Other Portraits) and one of a more esoteric sampling (Baroque Chamber Works).
J.S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas • von der Goltz
Gottfried von der Goltz is not a name I often associate with solo material; as a long-time leader of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (FBO) he is no doubt a familiar name in the field of baroque and early-classical…
Bach Harpsichord Concertos • Andreas Staier
I came late to acquiring this recording, published in 2015 on Harmonia Mundi with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. It includes the seven solo harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach.
Biber: Harmonia Artificioso-Ariosa • La Tempesta
My recording by Patrick Bismuth, who directs this ensemble, who performed Biber's so-called Mystery Sonatas. is among my favorites.
4 Times Baroque – Italian Pieces
Jan Nigges (recorder), Jonas Zschenderlein (violin), Karl Simko (cello), and Alexander von Heißen make up a new ensemble known as 4 Times Baroque - one of the few baroque ensembles I can think of using a numeral as part…
Stylus Fantasticus • Arend Grosfeld
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 Froberger, Kerll, Fischer, CPE, and JS Bach.
Geminiani: Concerti Grossi op. 7
Geminiani: concertos (op. 7), H. 115-H.120, performed by Café Zimmermann (Alpha, 2018). This is Francesco Geminiani's third collection of string concertos and today his least well-known collection.
Pure – Bach in Italy
What first caught my attention in this new album featuring violinist Jonas Zschenderlein and harpsichordist Alexander von Heißen was the relative young age of the duo.
Bach: The Art of Fugue • Accademia Bizantina
Reading the liner notes, there certainly seems to be some reverence for this work, Bach’s unfinished legacy, his art della fuga from Ottavio Dantone and members of Accademia Bizantina.
French Baroque Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard
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…
Piazzolla and Monteverdi. What?!
In [a recent review]Misterio — Baroque Review featuring the music of Astor Piazzolla, known composer of nuevo tango music, I had some reservation of the music being performed on baroque instruments.
Musical Offering(s) • Maasaki Suzuki
The story of Bach’s Musical Offering is an interesting one. I’ve dedicated two podcast episodes to pieces from this collection, and also enjoyed a book that focuses on the work, Evening in the Palace of Reason) which…
Misterio (Biber and Piazzolla)
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.