Ond of which is now available. Belgian harpsichordist Mario Sarrechia plays the solo part in the two concertos BWV 105Johann Sebastian Bach wrote six harpsichord concertos and compiled them in a volume around 1738. Most of his concertos for one or more harpsichords are probably arrangements of earlier concertos, mostly by Bach himself. The 'grand seigneur of early music' Sigiswald Kuijken combines Bach's six harpsichord concertos and the three double concertos for two harpsichords with the two violin concertos and the double concerto for two violins, which Bach also arranged as harpsichord concertos. All twelve concertos appear in a series of three CDs, the sec2 & 1058, Taiwanese harpsichordist Hsiu-Tzu Ryanas in the concerto BWV 1056, and Sigiswald Kuijken himself takes the solo in the violin concerto BWV 1042. Sigiswald Kuijken casts all the orchestral parts as soloists, as is customary with La Petite Bande and as was probably also practised by Bach - a theory that Kuijken underpins with ample evidence.
Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons are dedicated to Count Wenzel von Morzin from Prague. In 1718, he traveled to Venice with his 'virtuosissimo orchestra' and hired Vivaldi as 'maestro di musica italiano'. This marked the beginning of an era of close musical exchange between Venice and Prague. This relationship, which shaped an entire generation of Czech composers, is the focus of Vivaldi in Prague. The program includes concertos by Frantisek Jiranek, who was employed in Count Morzin's chapel and studied in Vivaldi's circle in Venice from 1724 to 1726, and by Antonin Reichenauer, whose musical thinking was strongly influenced by Vivaldi's school. The program is complemented by a bassoon concerto by Vivaldi dedicated to Count Morzin, an aria from a Vivaldi opera performed in Prague in 1730, and two arias from Vivaldi pasticcios reconstructed by Robert Rawson for this production. These pasticcios were compiled by the Venetian impresario Antonio Denzio from popular Vivaldi operas and presented to Prague audiences with new texts, including some in Czech.
In 1696, the Salzburg court conductor Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber described his print of seven chamber suites ("Partien") for two string instruments and basso continuo as "artful vocal harmony" in ornate Latin. These trio sonatas are of a special kind, because the two upper voices are not limited to the typical imitations practised in Italy at that time, but Biber allows the solo voices to be played in a free, expressive manner. He allows them to shine in a different light in virtuoso interplay above the bass foundation, repeatedly in full-bodied polyphony or in chords. In addition, new timbres are created through the use of the violin, viola and viola d'amore in various combinations and the 'detuning' of the strings (scordatura) to achieve different string tensions and thus give the instruments a sharper or softer sound. This recording is the third installment of the Biber recordings with Harmonie Universelle.
