Most of C.P.E. Bach's sonatas for flute and continuo date from the composer's early creative period. While some show elements of musical Sturm und Drang, others are more galant works. All of them are true jewels of the 18th century flute repertoire. The flutes played by Barthold Kuijken on the recording are replicas of instruments from the mid-18th century. The simple continuo instrumentation with only harpsichord (or fortepiano) places the emphasis on the imaginative little twists and turns of the flute lines.

Kuijken's recording shows a radically new view of the well-known work - and this entirely within the framework of historical performance practice! Firstly, the instrumentation here is chamber music, so not a single part is doubled, and secondly, instead of a conventional violoncello, a violoncello da spalla, a shoulder cello, is used, which has an effect on the sound.

As one of the main representatives of Viennese early classical music, Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777) is one of the composers of the gallant and sensitive style epoch, which became so important for the shaping of Viennese classical music in the history of music in the 18th century. The two CDs with Elisabeth Ullmann and the Piccolo Concerto Wien as well as the Ensemble Echo du Danube introduce us to music that has been neglected for far too long and which, in addition to it's significance in music history, is characterised not least by a typical Viennese quality: it's irresisti

Franz Josef Aumann received his musical training as a choirboy in Vienna, together with Michael Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. At the age of 25, he joined St Florian's Abbey, where he took over the choir just two years later and then directed the church music for over four decades. His church music was performed in St Florian's well into the 19th century and Anton Bruckner, who worked there for seven years as the monastery organist, greatly appreciated his works. His great Mass in C is a true 'Missa solemnis' with a magnificent orchestration of oboes, trumpets and timpani and a performance time of over 40 minutes, probably intended for special holidays. Aumann's instrumental music often has a 'twinkle in the eye': alongside virtuoso and ornate passages, the folk music of the region always shines through. This is clearly noticeable in the Cassatio 'La Pastorale', a pastoral piece for four strings and natural horn. It was performed at Schlagl Abbey at Christmas time in 1777 and must have created an exuberant, almost boisterous atmosphere.

Handel's "Water Music" was performed for the first time in 1717 at a royal celebration with a grand parade of boats on the Thames and the patron, King George I, was so enthusiastic that the young Handel had to repeat it several times. It is rousing, catchy, graceful and jubilant at the same time - a triumphant success to this day. The popular "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was composed for the fireworks display in London's Green Park on April 27, 1749, with which King George II celebrated the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the Peace of Aachen. The suite was conceived for a gigantic wind ensemble - originally for an outdoor performance. Immediately after the first performance, Handel produced a version for string orchestra with wind instruments. It was in this version that it began it's triumphal march through the concert halls of the world. W. A. Mozart described the music to the royal fireworks as a "spectacle of English pride and joy". The Collegium 1704 under it's conductor Vaclav Luks has made a name for itself for it's detailed and subtle interpretations and it's great joy in playing. These attributes also come to the fore in the Collegium's new CD and allow Handel's "Water & Fire" to shine in royal splendor.

Johann Sebastian Bach certainly became acquainted with the sound of the oboe at an early age through his father Ambrosius, who was employed as a town piper in Eisenach. The fact that Johann Sebastian recognised and appreciated the expressive power of the oboe at a young age is evident in many of his early compositions, cantatas and concertos. However, there are neither solo nor trio sonatas involving the oboe among his surviving works. This CD fills this gap with a series of chamber music arrangements. Xenia Loffler, solo oboist at the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, presents two flute sonatas with obbligato harpsichord on her instrument, the first of which (BWV 1030b) was probably once even written for the oboe. The two organ trio sonatas in trio arrangement with oboe, violin or viola da gamba and basso continuno elicit new musical colours from the original works. Finally, the three chorale preludes and a chaconna are also very distinctive, which - in various chamber music settings - now allow the original organ works to shine vividly in wonderful tone colours.

On their latest recording, Margret Koell and Stefan Temmingh explore together for the first time the soundscapes of harp and recorder through the centuries - from the Baroque to the present day.

Carl Heinrich Graun is known as Frederick the Great's court Kapellmeister, but less well known is the fact that Graun enjoyed an important reputation as a singer and that the king had originally engaged him as such at his court. In his obituary, the king characteristically honoured his court Kapellmeister with the words: "We will not hear such a singer again"! Graun's voice is characterised as a "high tenor" with "great lightness" and, according to a contemporary, he sang the slow pieces in particular "very gently and touchingly". Aco Biscevic probably corresponds exactly to this voice type: as a "haute-contre" (a tenor with a very high, light voice), his vocal range lies between tenor and the falsetto countertenor. Graun composed the three secular cantatas presented on this recording as a world premiere for himself and his voice during his time in Wolfenbuttel. Biscevic is accompanied by the baroque orchestra of the Thuringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach under the direction of Michael Hofstetter, an expert in the discovery of young voices (think of Valer Sabadus or Samuel Marino).

Marcel Ponseele is one of the great masters of the baroque oboe. He specialised in playing on period instruments at an early age and won the prestigious international Musica Antiqua competition in Bruges in 1981 at the age of 24. Since then he has played as a soloist with many well-known baroque orchestras such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, La Petite Bande under Sigiswald Kuijken and La Chapelle Royale. Together with Philippe Herreweghe, he co-founded the Orchestre des Champs-elysees and regularly works with the ensembles conducted by John Eliot Gardiner and Masaaki Suzuki. Ponseele's oboe playing is characterised by an impeccable technique, paired with an almost infallible certainty for the finest nuances and the tiniest differentiations as well as a warm, fine tone. He has recorded numerous CD productions on the Accent label with the ensemble Il Gardellino, which he co-founded. This 9-CD box set presents all of Marcel Ponseele's recordings made for the ACCENT label between 1988 and 2013.

It is one of the lautten compagney BERLIN's most popular programmes, performed together with the wonderful Dorothee Mields: The Love Songs of Henry Purcell.

Johann Sebastian Bach is always seen as a keyboard virtuoso, but he must also have been a very good violinist. At least that is what his son Carl Phillip Emanuel reports and that he was better able to lead the orchestra with his violin than from the harpsichord. Whether Bach wrote his violin concertos for himself or for a guest soloist - possibly the virtuoso Johann Georg Pisendel, who was a friend of his - can no longer be determined today. Two of Bach's violin concertos have survived, which the violinist duo Florian Deuter and Monica Waisman split between them, as well as the Double Concerto in D minor for two violins and orchestra BWV 1043. The two soloists and their ensemble Harmonie Universelle complete the programme with a second Double Concerto in C minor BWV 1060R, the original version of which has not survived. However, Bach himself had arranged the work for two harpsichords, from which this version for two violins could be reconstructed.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) has his place in music history above all as the last great virtuoso of the time-honoured viola da gamba and as the organiser of the so-called Bach-Abel concerts in London; which marked the beginning of modern public subscription concerts. What is less well known is that Abel not only performed there as a soloist; but also enriched the concerts with a large number of his own orchestral works. A total of 46 symphonies by him have survived; 40 of which appeared in print during his lifetime. Six - five "real" symphonies and one Sinfonia Concertante for oboe; violin and violoncello - were not printed during his lifetime; they have been preserved in manuscript in the Royal Court Library in Berlin. Abel had them in his luggage on his last visit to Germany in 1782 and apparently presented them in Berlin to the Prussian heir to the throne; Friedrich Wilhelm. On the occasion of Abel's 300th birthday; the Main Baroque Orchestra; conducted by Martin Jopp; presents four of these symphonies (WKO 37; 38; 39; 41) as world premiere recordings as well as the Sinfonia Concertante on this recording.

Originally born in Rome, Clementi made his home in England having at the age of 14, found a wealthy patron in the form of Sir Peter Beckford, who took the boy to his country estates at Fonthill Abbey. It was here that Clementi began his composing career. As well a composer he was partner in a firm of piano manufacturers and also started his own company of music publishers. Whilst in Vienna in 1781, it was Clementi who took part in the famous piano duel alongside Mozart and in the presence of Emperor Joseph II.

Bach: Cantatas, Bwv 179, 35, 164 & 17, Bach / Samann / Noskaiova / Kobow / Demeyere, Release Date: 05/29/2007. Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Performer: Jan Kobow, Ewald Demeyere, Gerlinde S�mann, Dominik W�rner, Conductor: Sigiswald Kuijken, Orchestra/Ensemble: La Petite Bande, Number of Discs: 1. Venue: Schloss Seehaus, Markt Nordheim, Germany Date of Recording: 08/2006. Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Bach: Cantatas 16, 153, 65 & 154, Bach / Hermans / Noskaiova / Kobow / Crabben, Release Date: 01/30/2007, Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Performer: Jan Van der Crabben, Elisabeth Hermans, Jan Kobow, Sigiswald Kuijken, Conductor: Sigiswald Kuijken, Orchestra/Ensemble: La Petite Bande, Number of Discs: 1. Venue: Miniemenkerk, Brussels, Belgium Date of Recording: 01/2006. Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.