Mozart’s four flute quartets date from the 1770s and 1780s. Those in D (K285) and G (K285a) are probably products of a Mannheim commission, while the C major (K285b) and A major (K298) Quartets belong to the early to mid-1780s when Mozart was in Vienna. Mozart’s flute quartets are central to the classical flute repertoire. The fact that Mozart held the instrument in rather low regard did not stop him from writing some of his loveliest music for it. The composer’s characteristic charm, wit, beauty, and elegance are in evidence throughout. The flute imposed itself undeniably as solo instrument in these scores imbued with concertante writing and the gallant style characteristic of the taste of the Mannheim court at that time. The present recording with Barthold Kuijken dated from the early 1980s and is regarded as one the most beautiful interpretations of these works.

In it's consistent equality of the two instruments and the unprecedented, almost symphonic sounding content severity represent the Sonatas Op. 5 a quantum leap in the evolution of classical chamber music for solo strings and piano is. This seems all the more at amazing than Beethoven got on here with no direct precedents and to the so-called "Kreutzer Sonata" Op. 47 from 1802 in this field and nothing like it has created. In addition to the two sonatas Op.5 Rainer Zipperling and the Bulgarian fortepiano specialist Boyan Vodenitcharov two in close temporal proximity resulting variation cycles Wo 45 and Op. 66 added on Themes by Handel and Mozart, which are characterized also by effect full of music cello and piano

At the end of the 17th century the harp was one of the most popular instruments in Naples. The Barockharfenistin Margret K�ll accomplishes here on a double harp wonders that a circle of connoisseurs around the eccentric Don Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa have put in supreme delight itself. Whether as the siren Parthenope (the mythological founder of Naples) once beguiled their victims...?

The tarantella is an ecstatic folk dance from southern Italy with a long tradition. It actually came into being as a way to heal a tarantula bite. The victim of the bite danced to the point of total exhaustion in order to drive the spider's poison out of the body. This recording by Liuwe Tamminga combines the sound of historical organs from southern Italy with other "therapeutic" instruments. Tambourine, castanets and triangle underline the rhythm whilst providing strong accents, and various plucked instruments such as the guitar and mandolin enter into a dialogue with the organ.

Handel: Faramondo / Sparbo, Devin, Lowrey, Cummings, Gottingen Festival Orchestra, Release Date: 10/14/2014, Composer: George Frideric Handel, Performer: Edward Grint, Maarten Engeltjes, Christopher Lowrey, Anna Devin, Conductor: Laurence Cummings, Orchestra/Ensemble: Gottingen Festival Orchestra, Venue: Deutsches Theater G�ttingen, Germany, Number of Discs: 3. This is the last in the series of Handel's "heroic" operas. It ran for only eight performances after it's premier in January 1738 and has since been largely neglected before a relatively recent revival of interest, resulting in two studio recordings from 1996 and 2007; this is only the third recording available and is of a live radio broadcast from the G�ttingen International Handel Festival.

Judas Maccab�us is one of Handel's most impressive and successful works. More than 50 performances took place in Handel's lifetime. The integration of the libretto with the conflict between the Scottish Jacobites under the leadership of the catholic Stuart pretender, Charles Edward, and the royalist government troops played a crucial role in this. The original libretto tells the story of the struggle of the Jews against the rule of the Seleucids. Handel portrays the plot with colorful arias, touching laments, and exultant triumph choruses. The present live recording is a production of the 2018 International Handel Festival in G�ttingen, highly praised by the critics and the audience. With Laurence Cummings, the Festival's Artistic Director, a renowned H�ndel specialist stands at the helm of the G�ttingen Festival Orchestra, assisted by an excellent vocal cast and the NDR Choir.

As a singer, conductor, teacher, and scientist, Rene Jacobs is without a doubt one of the most impressive personalities in today’s early music scene. In addition to her numerous opera performances and concerts, he also boasts an impressive discography containing more than 250 recordings. In the early stages of his career, during the 1970s and 1980s, Jacobs made waves primarily as a singer. He belonged to the first generation of male altos in Europe during a time when countertenors were still considered rare and exotic in many regions. This release has been issued to celebrate Jacobs’ 70th birthday. All of the recordings which Jacobs made for Accent early on in his career are included, with repertoire ranging from early Baroque to Romanticism, from Purcell and Telemann to Gluck and Rossini.

Fortepianist Arthur Schoonderwoerd and his ensemble Cristofori present the fourth volume of their complete traversal of Mozart's Piano Concertos on the Accent label with this release of two early concertos, K238 and K246. Schoonderwoerd plays on a replica of a fortepiano by Sp�th & Schmahl from the last third of the eighteenth century. The recording is rounded off by two alternative cadenzas to K238 and the concert arias Si mostra la sorte and Con ossequio, con rispetto sung by the young Spanish tenor Francisco Fern�ndez-Rueda.

If you believe Charles Burney, the English music scholars and European travelers in terms of music, then was hard to determine what was miserable, the Italian harpsichords or the Italian harpsichordist in the 1770s. But an exception in his polemical verdict he would certainly have done with Baldassarre Galuppi (1706-1785), whom he visited in Venice in 1770. Galuppi was not only an excellent opera composer, but also devoted to keyboard instruments truly enchanting music that was like his Opere buffe Europe estimated. The famous Italian harpsichordist Luca Guglielmi has recorded for Accent nine of his sonatas on four different types of keyboard instruments (harpsichord, clavichord, organ and fortepiano) Italian origin - a successful and very entertaining vindication for Italian harpsichordist and their instruments.

The anthology wants based on lesser known works document the importance of Haydn's string quartets, thus enabling the interested music lover some musical discoveries, the most in the context of overall shots would be possible otherwise. For this project could be won with the Schuppanzigh Quartet one of the most prestigious gambling on period instruments quartet formations. In the second episode, the arc from early String Quartet No.4 Op.9 stretched over the "medium" Op.65 No.5 to Op.77 No.1, the penultimate consummate quartet Haydn.

Wf Bach: Flute Duets / Kuijken, Hantai, Release Date: 04/29/2008, Composer: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Performer: Barthold Kuijken, Marc Hanta�, Number of Discs: 1. Design, Artwork, Typography [Typesetting] - Andreas Glatt, Flute [Transverse] - Barthold Kuijken, Marc Hantai, Painting [Front Painting]Front illustration: 'Man Playing The Flute', 1734, Sinebrychoff Museum, Helsinki, Lorentz Pascher, Producer - Adelheid Glatt, Andreas Glatt, Recorded By - Adelheid Glatt, Andreas Glatt, Recorded at the 'Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Kerk', Haarlem (Netherlands), April 1990.

Fortepianist Arthur Schoonderwoerd presents the third release in his cycle of the complete Piano Concertos of Mozart for Accent. This disc features two versions of Mozart's first concerto, K175, written in 1773. Coupled with the original version is the composer's 1782 revision that replaces the final movement with a Viennese rondo. Schoonderwoerd takes into account advances in instrument building by using a harpsichord for the early Salzburg version and a fortepiano in the later Vienna version. Featuring the crystal clear playing of Schoonderwoerd's ensemble Cristofori, this recording is completed by the concert aria Ah, lo previdi for soprano and orchestra sung by Johannette Zomer.

There are few composers who have vanished into the darkness of music history to the extent of Johann Abraham Schmierer. Some listeners may wonder why this lovely music has not been recorded earlier. One reason is that six of the suites from Zodiaci Musici are missing. Another, strangely enough, may be the composer's name. Schmierer is German for "scribbler," and this sobriquet may have biased some against his music without ever hearing it. This release, featuring Petr Wagner and his Ensemble Tourbillon, makes a strong case for Schmierer's rehabilitation.

Eichner: Six Flute Quartets, performed by Il Gardellino Ensemble, to the music of Ernst Eichner. These six quartets for Flute, Violin, and Alto Bass are revealed in a fresh meaningful collaborative celebrating these timeless instruments and their composed music by Eichner. Also performing are: Jan de Winne (fl�te traversi�re), Ryo Terakado (violon), Mika Akiha (alto) & Claire Giardelli (violoncelle).

Four of the children were later important composers Bach. It is fascinating to discover how differently developed their musical language: while Wilhelm Friedemann was trying to continue the musical legacy of his father, his younger brother Carl Philipp Emanuel was the most important representative of modern, often experimental, sensitive musical language. The two youngest sons Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian, represented in the Bach family, however, the gallant style, and it was the only one even brought Johann Christian to European glory. For the diverse "family album" could hardly be more ideal interpreters think as Barthold Kuijken Ewald Demeyere and who find the right tone for each of the represented here styles.