The very special mixture of virtuosity and melancholy, so characteristic for the British way of making music, is clearly dominated by composers like John Dowland or Britten, Henry Purcell or the Beatles. So, by arranging the tunes written by Jimmy Page for Led Zeppelin (acoustic works, with strong celtic roots), the duo didn't notice any substantial difference between Page and the ancients, and the result is that these pieces too are fitting perfectly the iconic instruments of the Irish/Scottish/English/Welsh tradition: the lute and the harp. Journey with Margret Koll and Luca Pianca through composers like John Dowland, Thomas Robinson, William Byrd and more on this trip through English music. After initially studying piano, Margret Koll went on to study harp with Nicoletta Alberti at the Mozarteum in Innsbruc, and with Dr. Ruth Inglefield in Baltimore, before finally participating in Helga Storck's class at the Hochschule fue Musik in Munich. As a principal harpist she has worked with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and the Philharmonic der Nationen. Lutenist Luca Pianca, during his long and celebrated career, has cofounded early music ensembles, performed with symphonies and opera houses, collaborated with many soloists, and has released more than 20 albums.

Kuijken gives us Vvolume 9 of his series devoted to presenting one cantata for each Sunday and holy day of the year. With this collection, dedicated to the Sundays of Advent, a few problems arise. All of Bach's Advent works are from Weimar (earlier) and Leipzig (later) as to be expected, except that in Leipzig the Advent cantata was given only on the first Sunday of the month, the other Sundays being sans cantata. His earlier sojourn in Weimar was different; there, each Sunday was expected to have a cantata provided for it. So what's the big deal? Only that for Weimar, cantatas on the second, third, and forth Sundays alone have been preserved, and those for the second and third Sundays are known only by their texts-no music has survived. This necessitates presenting only one Advent cantata (for the first Sunday alone), or compromising a bit and stretching the Leipzig "first Sunday" cantatas to cover the Sundays that have no music for them. Standards remain high in this vividly recorded series, though for some reason the singing of Siri Thornhill really caught my attention this time around, her lovely instrument able to navigate Bach's complexities with subtle and authoritative adroitness. Despite the questionable one-to-a-part dogmatism, this series is musically very fine. - FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Jan Dismas Zelenka, the greatest genius of Czech Baroque music, was rediscovered only in the last 20 years and has since then experienced a great renaissance. Zelenka was employed as a musician at the Dresden court under August the Strong and later his son Frederick August II, where he wrote splendid church music works for his Catholic regent. The Prague Collegium in 1704 has been promoting Zelenka's magnificent music for many years and has already produced four highly acclaimed albums with music by this outstanding composer. The new release is dedicated to several magnificent settings of individual mass parts from the years 1724-25. These pieces are characterized by a similar (large) instrumentation with oboes, bassoon and three trombones, which colorfully complement the strings. Vaclav Luks has combined these individual movements into a "Missa 1724" and, with the soloists, the choir and orchestra of his Collegium 1704, he let's this wonderful music resound again for the first time in an accustomed excellent interpretation.

After the very successful album with the B minor Mass - according to the Rheinische Post, "the most beautiful recording of this work currently in existence" - Vaclav Luks and his Collegium 1704 ensemble return to Johann Sebastian Bach. Joined by Xenia Loffler, the solo oboist of AKAMUS Berlin, and the renowned soprano Anna Prohaska, Luks presents a deluxe setup for a programme of concertos and cantatas in which the oboe plays a prominent role. As a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician, Xenia Loffler has gained an outstanding reputation as a baroque oboist over the past several years. Working with ensembles such as the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, where she has been active as a member and soloist since 2001, she has toured throughout the world and has performed at some of the most important music festivals and concert halls.

The debate surrounding Bach’s vocal scoring has mostly focused on the cantatas and Passions. The evidence for Joshua Rifkin’s hypothesis of single voices is found among the sources of these works. Bach’s motets have featured rather less in the debate. For those wanting a general “choral” approach, La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken present on their recording from the early 1990s an alternative to the authentic early performance style. La Petite Bande was founded in 1972 by Sigiswald Kuijken at the request of the record company Harmonia Mundi in order to record Lully’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,” under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt. The orchestra takes its name and constitution from Lully’s own orchestra at the court of Louis XIV. All its members are internationally renowned specialists in the early music field. La Petite Bande has recorded instrumental as well as vocal music, including operas and oratorios from the Baroque and Classical periods. La Petite Bande currently makes recordings for Accent, Challenge, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Denon, Seon/Virgin and Hyperion.

In Deep Silence: Modern Guitar Music, Raphaella Smits plays Owe Walter, Leo Brouwer and Wim Hendrickx's compositions for guitar.

I did not find it easy, from my many ACCENT CDs to make a selection (since 1978). Of course, I liked some better than others. Some seem to me a little dated, others stayed to date, some I think even better than I remembered it -. But that would not necessarily be the feeling of every listener Who so self-critical manifests itself because of his discography with ACCENT, is undoubtedly one the most important transverse flutist of early music and one of the most influential figures of historical performance practice: Barthold Kuijken. For his services to the Belgian musical life he received in December 2007, the "Doctor of Arts" at the University of Brussels. We asked the artists from the ACCENT catalog select some shots that he not only seemed important, but also represent something of a musical calling card. Of interest are not only the excellent recordings Kuijken, but also be highly worth reading essay.

Today Konrad Jungh�nel - with his ensemble Cantus Coelln and as guest conductors in opera houses - is one of the leading conductors in the field of early music. The present 3-release set recalls the beginning of his career when he was internationally in demand and celebrated as a solo lutenist. The three recordings of lute music from Italy and Germany, which Konrad Jungh�nel recorded for the Belgian label Accent in the late 1970s, are collected here. He was awarded international prizes for his recordings of the lute works of Johann Sebastian Bach and the solo works of Silvius Leopold Weiss. The present album features the works of Bach, Piccinini, Kapsberger, and Weiss.

George Frederic Handel wrote little for his native tongue, but what he did demonstrates a particular level of contemplative pietism while still employing the familiar techniques of Italian opera. Praise of the beauty of nature and eternal life are the subjects of the sacred poems by his contemporary Barthold Heinrich Brockes which Handel set to music in his "Nine German Arias". Each of the arias celebrates an aspect of nature – from the beauty of a flaming rose to the sweetness of silence – with extraordinary tenderness and sincerity. In these nine pieces for soprano and a small group of instruments, to be chosen at will, Handel drew in many places on music from his own operas, with the voice part in the German arias adapted to be less virtuosic and more deeply expressive. The musical relationships with Handel’s opera arias are evident in the endless ingenuity of his characterization and the expressive, articulate melodies with which the soprano and the violin obbligato create their vivid images. The young German soprano Marie Friederike Schöder is accompanied in her beautiful interpretation of the arias by the specialist ensemble Batzdorfer Hofkapelle.

The 17th-century Bohemian/Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is best known for his works for solo violin, especially the Mystery Sonatas. However, he also wrote a considerable amount of music for string ensemble, including a set of 12 chamber sonatas subtitled Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum which was first published in Nuremberg in 1683. The title refers to the fact that the music in the sonatas combine sacred and secular styles. In his collection, Biber set new standards in the field of string chamber music. In the first part he composes for a five-part string ensemble: 2 violins, 2 violas, violone and basso continuo, a combination that was established at his time as the standard ensemble in Austrian cultural circles. In a richly colored setting, Biber artfully weaves a polyphonic texture that allows the voices to alternate and come to the fore. In the second part of this collection he dispenses with the five-part arrangement hitherto predominant in Austria, and focuses on augmenting the flexibility of the four individual parts. The present recording of Biber's twelve chamber sonatas Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum is performed by Harmonie Universelle under it's director Florian Deuter.

In London's Opera Orchestra by George Frideric Handel at the time played the best musicians of London, including the harpsichordist Charles Fran�ois Dieupart (1677-1740). Since about 1704 in London, he had there made a name for himself as a harpsichordist and teacher. Although his six harpsichord suites appeared already in 1701 in Amsterdam, but were also known in England and spread by copies and reprints. Should form a basis on which Handel in his later emerged solo sonatas for flute build.

The organ Fresobaldis to his time have attracted audience in St. Peter's Basilica 30.00. Even if one looks today such figures as immoderate posthumous exaggeration, is likely to be referred to him already as the "Star organist" of the 17th century. Frescobaldi's numerous collections of keyboard music paint a picture of an inventive, innovative composer, whose influence reached far beyond the Alps. Not without Gruns he later became even more highly valued by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Classical Music

Fortepiano Sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart has all his life engaged in the genre piano sonata, starting with four, unfortunately lost, piano sonatas K. 33 dg (KV A199-202), which already Mozart composed the age of ten, to the Sonata K. 576, which he will be in July 1789 own works earned. Nevertheless, his sonatas was long (-inside) were overshadowed by his other works and a number of sonatas in the relevant literature dismissed as occasional pieces or as educational material for his piano students. Meanwhile, it has long recognized the importance of the sonatas and when the recording of his piano works on a fortepiano nowadays it were part of the standard, this is due to undoubtedly outstanding performers such as Linda Nicholson.

This marvelous CD contains a number of motets by Giaches de Wert and one Mass. The performances from Currende and Concerto Palatino, all directed by Mr. Erik Van Nevel, with Mr. Herman Stinders providing basso continuo on the organ, are extremely good and, perhaps, even better than the di Lasso disc recorded by the same forces. The voices of Currende sing with great beauty, accuracy and expression and the soprano blend with high cornetto in a very impressive way.