Described by librettist Charles Jennens with typical English understatement as “a fine entertainment,” Handel’s Messiah was initially controversial as a biblical oratorio written for secular theatres. Within years it was however being “received with universal applause” and its composer’s purpose in delighting and charming his listeners has made this masterpiece an international favorite ever since. This eye-catching, audiovisual recording of Handel’s masterpiece with its cast of renowned soloists captures the 2016 Easter concert in the impressive Baroque Basilica of Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Il Farnace is the most re-written and re-proposed of Vivaldi’s operas. Versions of Farnace, two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, were conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi’s satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production. The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi’s operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season. The abbot Antonio Conti wrote that of all the operas of the Venice season he liked best Farnace because its music was varied, “between the sublime and the tender,” and because Vivaldi’s pupil worked wonders. In 1738, for the Ferrara Carnival season, Vivaldi wrote a new score of the opera. This is the last Farnace, in two acts, as the third was lost.

Born in L’Aquila in 1992, Davide Ferella obtained his degree in mandolin performance from the Conservatory “A. Casella of L’Aquilla” under the tutelage of M. Fabio Giudice. He was ranked first in the chamber music categories of the national competitions “Urania” and “Marco Dall’Aquila.” He also won the special “Piero Farulli” prize. He has performed in numerous Italian festivals, and has collaborated with the Baroque Ensemble “Luca Marenzio,” Ensemble “Ianua,” and “Virtuosi Italiani.” On this, his new release, he presents a program of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concertos for Harpsichord, masterfully transcribed for mandolin. Ferella himself transcribed these pieces. He is joined by Profili Barocchi, the extraordinarily capable Italian Baroque ensemble.

For classical guitar lovers IDIS presents to the audience an album that collects some Fifties and Sixties recordings performed by Alirio Diaz; among them Antonio Lauro Concert for guitar and orchestra with also four small rarities. Four popular Venezuelan songs arranged for two guitars and recorded with a false name in 1962 with the great South American guitarist Rodrigo Riera. During these times Diaz was one of the favorite guitarists of Andrés Segovia and he did not want to get the Master upset recording popular music; a kind of music not loved or much appreciated by Mr. Segovia. This album is a really do not miss release.

Franco Gulli can be easy considered one of the greatest violinists of the XIX Century; but unfortunately had a discographical career less than his qualities and merits. Nowadays IDIS is gathering his discographical history. In this release the Triestine violinist performs two of best masterpieces of XVIII musical literature: Antonio Vivaldi ’s Quattro Stagioni and J.S.Bach’s Prima Sonata for solo violin BWV 1001. In the first recording of 1959 the thirty-three year old violinist is conducted by one of the most talented conductors of time, Aldo Ceccato; the pure sound and the impeccable virtuosity comes out completely in this recording with the impressive Gulli’s cantabile. This recording of the Quattro Stagioni is of a good sound quality at the same level as Bach’s Sonata no 1 in which Gulli solves the complex counterpoint of the work with a unique elegance.

DUO Stephanie & Saar’s third release on New Focus Recordings, The Art of Fugue, is the first ever complete piano duo recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s final enigmatic work. The duo performs the work’s different movements as either four-hand, two piano or solo piano works. Bach never specified the instrumentation of the work and this new version is a kaleidoscope of textures and colors, a probing journey that seeks answers and illumination. Dated 1748, some scholars see The Art of Fugue as an academic endeavor by an aging master paying tribute to the fugue, which was by then falling out of fashion. Others consider the work as a sort of “Da Vinci Code” of numerology, puzzles and musical coding. The mystery of Contrapunctus 14, notable for both the inclusion of Bach’s name as a theme and for its unfinished state adds to the mythology and cult status that surrounds the work.Bach found fugues to be a source of endless creativity. The Art of Fugue, a collection of fourteen fugues and four canons, is an exploration of the full spectrum of contrapuntal possibilities, all derived from one monolithic theme in D minor. From a purely technical standpoint, Bach’s compositional prowess is in full display as he employs inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution, multiple fugue subjects, mirroring and canonic writing- all while creating an intense and emotionally gripping musical experience. Bach was a deeply devout Lutheran, and while Th Art of Fugue has no direct religious connotations, the work’s reverence for “musical math” and the severity of the techniques used are in line with Bach’s devotional output. Bach’s need to exhaust as many possibilities of permutations from one theme is in essence a quest to find meaning, an unending spiritual journey reaching towards the divine.