Johann Sebastian Bach was not only a virtuoso organist, but also a brilliant harpsichordist, who called several harpsichords and Clavichords his own. The young Belgian virtuoso Ewald Demeyere here takes on some early harpsichord works of Bach, where an expressive virtuosity is all together. No wonder, Bach is in these works the North German "Stylus phantasticus" committed. This style maintains the composer as a young Wilder not only extensively but also enjoys unmistakably to his own virtuosity.

In the first half of the 19th century Vienna was one of the most important music centers of the world. Many outstanding guitarists made their respects and had enormous response recorded. Including Mauro Giuliani from Naples and Johann-Kaspar Metz from Pressburg (now Bratislava). Giuliani's early romantic style had great influence on many of his colleagues. His compositions include humor, depth and almost orchestral brilliance. Also Metz belonged to the absolute top in the ranks of guitar virtuoso.

Mozart: The Divertimenti, Vol. 1, Mozart / Octophoros / Dombrecht, Release Date: 09/03/2013, Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Orchestra/Ensemble: Octophoros, Octophoros (Performer), oboe Paul Dombrecht, oboe Marcel Ponseele, Horns Claude Maury, horns Piet Dombrecht, bassoon Danny Bond, bassoon Donna Agrell, Venue: O. L. Vrouwe Kerk, Gistel, Date of Recording: 09/1988, Number of Discs: 1.

Most listeners today would say with confidence that the Baroque era was dominated by the towering figures of J.S Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. However, scholars of the period would disagree. In fact, Johann Mattheson coined the phrase "three important H's of German music" to describe Handel, Hasse... and Johann David Heinichen. Although the music of Heinichen has enjoyed a modest Renaissance in recent years, much of his output still remains obscure and under-explored. Heinichen's compositions are emblematic of the cultural riches of the reign of King Augustus the Strong of Saxony. This recording featuring the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle features a selection of Heinichen's Italian-inspired Cantatas and Concertos. The vocal soloists are soprano Marie Friederike Sch�der and alto Terry Wey.

Since the 14th century, a new literary style took shape in Italy, who was related in subject matter, form and language of the People's Poetry and therefore a setting suggested. So Dante asks a fellow composer, his sonnet "to provide them with sound, to give it wings so that it may sound, where people take pleasure in him." A first prospered in the popular settings of the 15th century in the cultural centers of Venice and Naples. Roberto Festa and the Ensemble Daedalus presented here some of the most beautiful basics that Italy could be the "land of song" quickly.

Classical Music

Handel's collection is regarded as homage to Corelli's Concerti Grossi Op.6 and the enthusiasm of the audience Englichen for Italians, which led to "corellisierenden" works long after Corelli's death (1713). But Handel's Concerti Grossi in it's more than the model also. So he let's et al the Concertino act independently from Tutti, which he reached a wide varied musical history.

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (1580-1651) is today better known for it's amazing lute and Theorbenst�cke, but his work is far more versatile and includes some with radio vocal music. 1630 published Kapsperger in Rome his oratorio "I Pastori di Bette Lemme Nella Nascita di NS Giesu Christo ". Kapsperger appropriate, it's noble status, the piece but not written for the "common people" in one of the city Roman prayer halls, but exclusively for his patron Cardinal Francesco Barberini. As a lyricist came naturally only the highest ranking Poet Rome in question: Giulio Rospigliosi. He was a close friend of Pope Urban VII., Later cardinal, and finally as Clement IX. (1667-1669) Successor of Peter himself. The delightful score is enriched with some 'pastoral instruments', and thus create bagpipe and psaltery a pastoral atmosphere.

Gery de Ghersem (1573-1630) is one of the last great representatives of the Flemish school and would now certainly known, if not in 1755 almost all of his works had been destroyed by the devastating fire of the Library in Brussels. Few have elsewhere obtained copies, and it also exists only one in print: the recorded here artful, five-part "Missa Ave virgo sanctissima" on the eponymous motet by Francesco Guerrero (1528-1599). Erik van Nevel and his ensemble Currende they have for the recording just as useful as instructive by presenting Guerreros and adds more Marie antiphons of his contemporaries.

Handel's solo sonatas exist in versions for various wind instruments as well as for violin, in some cases differing in their respective keys and number of movements. Many were reworked in later printed editions so that they would be playable on the transverse flute, an instrument that was becoming ever more popular in England at that time. This release of the complete wind sonatas takes into account the different versions of the pieces. The soloists are proven experts in their field: flutist Barthold Kuijken, recorder player Peter Van Heyghen and oboist Marcel Ponseele.

The programme of this disc brings together pieces by Italian authors from the first half of the 17th century, both vocal and instrumental pieces, here performed by a period guitar ensemble. Many of the included works are signed by lesser-known composers, such as Antonio Carbonchi, Biagio Marini, Michaelangelo Galilei, or Angelo Michele Bartolotti, but the disc also includes pieces by Girolamo Kapsberger, one of the most famous theorbo players of his time, and Francesco Corbetta, "the greatest guitar player", according to his contemporary Gaspar Sanz. The songs presented on this recording centre on love, moving in a labyrinth which includes hope, sorrow, optimism, disappointment and joy. Marco Beasley is a specialist in 17th-century vocal music and has some fine recordings to his name. His light and agile voice is excellently suited to these fine Italian delights of the early Baroque period. He is accompanied by Private Musicke under the direction of Pierre Pitzl, great experts in this kind of repertoire.

The pieces on this recording are called sonata, capriccio, or fantasia, or they may have the name of a bass pattern or dance; they experiment imaginatively with the dances, the improvisatory forms, the larger multi-sectional forms out of which grew the instrumental genres of the mature Baroque. The instrumental sounds are distinctive and a lot of fun even for those with little familiarity with music of this period; sample Bartolomeo di Selma's Fantasia per fagotto, track 10, for a taste of the dulcian and it's buzzy sound. The dances of Maurizio Cazzati (1620-1677) are an appealingly diverse lot, with the mysterious Ballo del Ombre (Dance of the Shadows, track 18) and subsequently hearty Ballo de Contadini (Farmers' Dance) forming an especially sharp contrast that will snare the ear of anyone who has sat through too many dull brass quintet recitals. The musicians of this circle are bringing an obscure repertory to life, with a relaxed, in-control attitude replacing a false grandeur. Listen and enjoy.

Handel: Complete Italian Cantatas For Bass / Raimund Nolte, Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, Composer: George Frideric Handel, Performer: Raimund Nolte, Orchestra/Ensemble: Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, Number of Discs: 1. In their recording of the complete Italian cantatas for bass solo by George Frideric Handel, the bass-baritone Raimund Nolte and the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle have tackled a repertoire which makes extensive demands on the singer. The two cantatas Nell'africane selve HWV 136a and Cuopre tal volta il cielo HWV 98, probably composed for the bass Antonio Manna in Naples in the summer of 1708, belong to the most spectacular works Handel ever wrote with their exorbitant vocal range, breathtaking leaps and bizarre changes of register. As Karl B�hmer illustrates in his informative booklet text, these two cantatas are deeply embedded in the tradition of the Italian "contra basso" singing style mastered only by a few exceptional singers who were able to combine an extremely low register with a sinuous baritone register. The other two cantatas included on this recording, Dalla guerra amorosa HWV 102a (already a 'hit' during Handel's lifetime) and Spande ancor a mio dispetto HWV 165 are somewhat more moderate in their technical demands. These two works also focus on the description of natural phenomena and the metaphor of the war of love for the emotional state of mind expressed by the protagonist.

Roland Marais (ca.1685-1750), the fourth of thirteen children Marin Marais', continued on his father's most individual tradition. Along with his siblings, he was taught by his father and went with him and two other brothers in front of Louis XIV., Who showed himself delighted with this star-studded ensemble. As Quantz 1729 was in Paris, he praised the precision and elegance of the game by Roland Marais with it's appearance at the Paris Opera. His 1738 published second book with pieces for the viola da gamba follows the aesthetics of his father, as he - unlike Forqueray - composed exclusively in the French style. Marais achieved within this spectrum an enormous expressive range of sighing melancholy to vigorous virtuoso pieces. Petr Wagner and the Ensemble Tourbillon appreciate his music for the first time on a separate CD.

Mozart: Piano Concertos No 20 & 21 / Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori, Mozart / Schoonderwoerd, Release Date: 02/28/2012, Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Performer: Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Conductor: Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Orchestra/Ensemble: Cristofori, Number of Discs: 1. The present recording of the Piano Concertos KV 466 & 467 is the starting point for the complete collection of Mozart piano concertos to be issued by the label Accent. Arthur Schoonderwoerd, in great demand as a hammerklavier performer, and his ensemble Cristofori play on authentic instruments of the period or modern reproductions. The string parts in the orchestral accompaniment are played by only one musician per part, producing a slender, transparent tone which supports the hammerklavier without ever dominating it's fine tone. The fortepiano is a copy of an instrument made by Anton Walter (Vienna, ca. 1782) with a silvery tone more reminiscent of a harpsichord, but with extensively greater dynamic possibilities. This tonal spectrum is most apparent in the cadenzas which are improvised by Arthur Schoonderwoerd as was customary in Mozart's time. The two piano concertos are highly contrasting in character despite being composed within four weeks of each other during the spring of 1785. KV 467 is a virtuoso and largely buoyant bravura work, whereas the somber and dramatic atmosphere of KV 466 is stylistically far beyond it's time. In his extensive accompanying essay, Arthur Schoonderwoerd establishes a fascinating correlation between this work and Mozart's biography: the three movements of the D minor concerto are depicted as the detailed musical representation of the Freemasons' initiation rites for the apprentice or journey man and the master.