On this latest release in the Guitar Laureate series, Georgi Dimitrov-Jojo, winner of the 2022 European Bach Guitar Award, presents a selection of works transcribed for guitar from the rich repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach. Dimitrov-Jojo’s beautiful sound and poetic interpretations bring an intimate connection to Bach’s boundless imagination, crowned in this substantial programme by the famous Ciaconna, BWV 1004.
Bach: The Gamba Sonatas with Harpsichord, Piano & Organ / De Carlo, Guglielmi
Fineline
CD
$13.99Oct 20, 2023
I see that we had met in Bach’s profound italianness, in the singing of the melodies that danced in counterpoint, in the rhythmic undulation of his writing. Although in the manuscripts the three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba are accompanied by the harpsichord, we imagined the Viola da Gamba conversing with different keyboard instruments that Bach had at his disposal: a copy of a Mietke harpsichord, a copy of a Silbermann fortepiano and the organ built by Gottfried Silbermann in 1753.
In addition to working on his own compositions, arranging the works of other composers was a constant in Mozart's life. In 1766, Johann Christian Bach was to publish his 'Six Sonatas for Pianoforte or Harpsichord Opus 5' in London. Wolfgang liked these so much that he arranged three sonatas from the collection as concertos for harpsichord. In these three concertos, the harpsichord part is practically identical to the original sonatas by J. Ch. Bach. Although the character of the manuscript suggests that the manuscript (which bears the hand of both Leopold and Wolfgang) could have been made between 1770 and 1772, it is likely that it is based on an earlier draft, close in time to the publication of the Opus 5 sonatas by Christian Bach. Whatever the case, Wolfgang probably planned these chamber concertos for later performances in small, private circles, both in Salzburg and on a new journey through Italy. In April 1764, Bach and the 8-year-old Mozart (!) performed together for the first time in London. The Mozart family's admiration for Johann Christian Bach lasted a lifetime.
Arnold, Benjamin, Shostakovich & Stravinsky: Music for Flute
Ars Produktion
CD
$22.99Jun 07, 2024
Discover Johanna Domotor's newly interpreted sound combination, in which flute and string orchestra merge musically. The flutist Johanna Domotor not only shines in dizzying passages, she also juggles virtuously between original works and arrangements, between arranged baroque music and early modern music. The album captures the diversity of 20th century music and presents three world premiere recordings of famous composers such as Shostakovich, Arnold and Stravinsky. The collaboration with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra enhances the auditory experience, as Johanna Domotor and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra also make their long-standing musical friendship audible outside the concert hall with this album.
In 2018, four friends studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London decided to form an ensemble they called Théodora. Mariamielle Lamagat (soprano), Louise Ayrton (baroque violin), Lucie Chabard (harpsichord) and Alice Trocellier (viola da gamba) explore French Baroque music and it's ramifications. For their first recording, part of Alpha Classics' "Baroque Stories" series, they decided to trace the French style in Germanic lands in the 18th century, where the dance forms, dotted rhythms, modulations and harmonies in vogue at the court of Louis XIV inspired composers to create numerous transcriptions, works and new instrumental practices. Johann Fischer and Johann Philipp Krieger make no secret of their admiration for Campra and Lully, whose music enjoyed considerable success across the Rhine. This programme features their magnificent "Duo de la paix et de la félicité" (Duet of Peace and Happiness), in a version preserved in Berlin, performed here with mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet. Bach is, of course, included: he admired the French organ school, particularly Jacques Boyvin, whose superb Récit tendre, from the Second Livre d'Orgue (1700), Théodora has transcribed for violin, viola and basso continuo.
Polyphonic Dreams, Busoni II Victor Nicoara, piano After moving to Berlin in 1894 Busonis reputation as a pianistic titan was cemented: his encyclopaedic piano recitals, caused a stir with audiences and critics alike. His compositions were also starting to garner some notice as well as bemusement - Busoni, not neatly subscribing to any of the major musical camps from the turn of the century, was as difficult to categorise then as he is now. Astonishingly well read and cosmopolitan, Busoni t
The Book of Psalms is an ancient corpus of 150 texts exploring thanksgiving, lamentation, penitence, and spirituality, which have significantly influenced mythical and secular poetry. Including several premiere recordings, this album features well-loved settings of these treasured words, together with fresh compositions by emerging composers.
Like the Christmas and Whitsun festivals, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus was spread out over three feast days. A cantata was sung at each day's church service; Bach, whose ambition in his first year was to present the worshippers of Leipzig with works he had written himself, was thus kept busy. Most of his work in 1724 undoubtedly went into the St John Passion (BWV 245.1), performed for the first time on Good Friday that year, two days before Easter.
Soprano Rowan Pierce joins Florilegium and Ashley Solomon in Tra le fiamme - a new recording of secular cantatas by G. F. Handel and J. S. Bach. Tra le fiamme is one of Handel's Italian style cantatas, combining vocal virtuosity with deep emotional expressivity. Bach's cantata Ich bin in mir vergnugt is an elegant example of one of his secular cantatas. This cantata stands out for it's reflective exploration of themes of inner peace, contentment, and stoic philosophy - qualities that reflect Bach's interest in moral and philosophical themes outside of his sacred music. Also included here is the final virtuosic Alleluia from Vivaldi's motet In furore iustissimae irae together with instrumental concertos by Vivaldi and Handel.
At the highest level VISION. BACH Vol. 8 "Hans-Christoph Rademann as director of the Gaechinger Cantorey implements this in an exemplary manner with his ensembles and the soloists. The choir consists of a small chamber ensemble of up to four accomplished voices per register, including the solos. This potential forms an exceptionally high-quality chamber choir, is technically absolutely unchallenged in the demanding opening choruses, is agile and fresh, at the same time full of vocal power and affective clarity, precise and easily comprehensible in it's diction at all times. The chorales are tackled decisively and with the necessary grandeur, without ever seeming statuesque - however, with the right amount of Lutheran vigor and conviction. " Klassik. Com
It is a mammoth project that the Stuttgart International Bach Academy has undertaken: All sixty cantatas from Johann Sebastian Bach's first year in office as St. Thomas Cantor will be performed in a total of 23 concerts and recorded on CDs. Vol. 7 is now available should convince even skeptics. For what Hans-Christoph Rademann, his Gaechinger Cantorey and hand-picked soloists reveal here in terms of vocal-instrumental coordination, tonal differentiation and rhetorically trained creative artistry probably marks the pinnacle of historically informed performance practice at present. The choir presents itself extremely agile in fugal passages, but also with sufficient sonorous warmth in the chorales, and the orchestra with it's excellent soloists (trumpet!) matches this level. We can look forward to further releases in this series.
Vision Bach, Vol. 6 - The First Cantata Year - BWV 243.1, 40
Haenssler Classic
CD
$24.99$32.99Save 25%Jan 03, 2025
The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. For this purpose it comprises the instrumentalists and up to four vocalists per voice, including the soloists, all specialists in their field, as Bach himself wished it. This is a vision that only now can be fulfilled in it's ideal form. To this day the music will inspire it's audience to devotion, challenge them to reflect and make them glad. It addresses questions of faith and comes to terms with particular situations of human life. The Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is performing all these cantatas in chronological order exactly 300 years later. The performances follow the latest state of Bach research documented in the new 2022 catalogue of Bach's works BWV3.
Rademann conducts with feeling and strives for a round and harmonious sound. The musicians of the Gaechinger Cantorey play excellently and show that historically informed performance practice and Romantic music-making are not necessarily mutually exclusive. necessarily mutually exclusive. It is the result that counts. And that is more than convincing with Rademann and his Cantorey. Above all, because the listener can't get enough of it. pizzicato
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH THE FIRST CANTATA YEAR 2 CDs / Vol. 4 BWV 138, 95, 48, 162.2, 109, 89, 163 GAECHINGER CANTOREY // HANS-CHRISTOPH RADEMANN The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christ
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: THE FIRST CANTATA YEAR. 2 CDs / Vol. 3. BWV 105, 46, 179, 199. 3, 69. 1, 77, 25, 119. GAECHINGER CANTOREY // HANS-CHRISTOPH RADEMANN- This is the third in a series of ten double CDs releases forming the year-long VISION. BACH project marking the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's taking up the post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig in May 1723. The aim is to perform all 62 cantatas from Bach's first year in Leipzig, in chronological order. Rademann conducts with feeling and tries to make the sound round and harmonious. The musicians of the Gaechinger Cantorei play excellently and show that historically informed performance practice and romantic music-making are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It is the result that counts. " pizzicato
Vision.Bach, Vol. 1 - The First Cantata Year / Gaechinger Cantorey
Haenssler Classic
CD
$32.99Dec 01, 2023
The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. For this purpose it comprises the instrumentalists and up to four vocalists per voice, including the soloists, all specialists in their field, as Bach himself wished it. This is a vision that only now can be fulfilled in its ideal form. To this day the music will inspire its audience to devotion, challenge them to reflect and make them glad. It addresses questions of faith and comes to terms with particular situations of human life.
Violinists Simone Lamsma and Candida Thompson explore connections between J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt on their new release, 'Pärt über Bach,' with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Arvo Pärt’s groundbreaking 'Tabula Rasa' is presented alongside Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin in the version for two violins, and Pärt’s own 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' written in 1964, wherein the Estonian master intertwines his own modernist music with phrases from J.S. Bach’s music.
"Turning to Bach was for me a way of stating my position regarding my experience with twelve-tone music. In my state of extreme discomfort at that time, I wanted to prove to myself how beautiful Bach’s music was, and how hateful mine was. [...] I was convinced that through this musical sacrifice I could gain a clearer vision of my own contradictions." - Arvo Pärt
Utopia LimIted or the Flowers of Progress; King Arthur Suite
Opus Arte
CD
$34.99Jul 25, 2025
Utopia, Limited, Gilbert & Sullivan's penultimate work, is a rarely performed gem that pokes fun at the workings of the British Empire, thoughtfully revived and now presented alongside Sullivan’s evocative incidental music for King Arthur. Expect dazzling patter, lush choruses, and moments of beauty performed by a stellar cast (many of whom performed in Scottish Opera's 2021 semi-staging) in this compelling pairing of satire and symphonic storytelling. Conducted by Derek Clark and featuring Neal Davies, Richard Suart, Ellie Laugharne, and Yvonne Howard.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, one of today's most visionary pianists, presents the second book of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, a cornerstone of the piano repertoire. Following his acclaimed interpretation of Book I (released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2014), Aimard brings his signature clarity, insight, and depth to this second collection of 24 Preludes and Fugues, exploring Bach's extraordinary harmonic and contrapuntal imagination. With a lifelong dedication to both early and contemporary music, Aimard approaches the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II not merely as a historical masterpiece but as a vibrant and endlessly inventive work. His performance highlights Bach's ability to blend expressive lyricism with intellectual rigor, creating a deeply engaging and illuminating listening experience. A renowned champion of twentieth-century music, Pierre-Laurent Aimard has released multiple acclaimed albums in his exclusive contract with PENTATONE, including Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux (2018) and Visions de l'Amen (2022), along with Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata & Eroica Variations (2021). He also joined Tamara Stefanovich in Etudes and Frames (2023), with music by Vassos Nicolaou, recorded Bartok's Piano Concertos with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen (2023), Schubert: Landler (2024), and Kurtag: Jatekok (2025).
Schumann, Bach, Rachmaninoff: Concertos without Orchestra / Gevrek
Fuga Libera
CD
$20.99Apr 12, 2024
“Concertos Without Orchestra” is the concept of the young Turkish pianist Salih Can Gevrek, Associate Artist at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, for his first CD recording. He presents two mirrored works, both of which are imbued with references to the musical style and structure of concertos with orchestra. J. S. Bach’s famous Italian Concerto is subtly linked to Schumann’s lesser known but equally virtuoso Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 14, also known as the “Concerto without orchestra”. Rachmaninov’s rarely recorded Moments musicaux complete this musical panorama to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his death. This recording offers the listener a real voyage through the Baroque, Romantic and post-Romantic periods, drama and poetry expressed in music supply the connection between these three very different works.
