The collection of six sonatas by Jan Dismas Zelenka is composed- with the exception of the third sonata that includes the violin- for a pair of oboes, bassoon, and basso continuo. In the context of Baroque chamber music, this represents a true rarity. Here, Zelenka elevates the sonata da camera to a genre of enormous technical difficulty for the performers, making great demands especially on the wind players, and the composer confronts his listeners with a most intimate personal statement. Zelenka’s sonatas are exceptional works in the repertoire of Baroque chamber music, but because of their great difficulty, they appear only occasionally in concert programmes. Recordings of these sonatas are equally rare. The last complete recording of all six sonatas on historical instruments was made over twenty years ago by Ensemble Zefiro in 1993, so this new recording by the Prague-based ensemble Collegium 1704, known for their excellent Zelenka interpretations and recordings, has been eagerly awaited.

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REVIEW:

This recording present flowing performances of pieces that in their extent, intricacy, and near-constant blowing must surely test the breath and lips of even the best wind players. Sonata No. 5 stands out for its Vivaldian energy and light; bassoonist Jane Gower shows impressive rat-a-tat virtuosity here, while the work;s stronger formal clarity draws from the group a more vivid response to structure and shape.

Violinist Helen Zemanova ably steps in for one of the oboes in Sonata No.3, bringing the sound a new and altered focus. These are pleasant performances, unhurried and full of expertise.

– Gramophone

With "Il trionfo della morte" by Bonaventuro Aliotti from 1677, the French ensemble Les Travers�es Baroque presents an important example of an early oratorio. The form of the oratorio developed after the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent (1545-1563) severely restricted the use of music in church services. Some religious congregations then began to perform new forms of music in their prayer and assembly rooms, the "oratorios". An important center for the development of the oratorio or "Dialoghi sacri", as this musical form of theological approach was called, was Sicily. There Bunaventuro Aliotti grew up and entered the Franciscan Minorite Order, where he received extensive training as organist and conductor. Aliotti created a total of eleven oratorios, but only four of them have survived. "Il trionfo della morte" revolves around the story of Adam and Eve, who are confronted with temptation, but also with their passion, their torments and their doubts. Aliotti characterizes his characters with great inspiration, and the orchestra comments and underlines the plot with short interjections in a varied and colorful way.

Sor brought his Spanish culture to France where he spent most of his life, adding a French flavor to his compositions. Coste went on with the work of his teacher Sor respecting the Spanish school : an obvious combination.

Poetic, virtuoso, folk - many facets must bassoonist show the deepest position of the instrument is also exploited as dizzying heights bond and van der Meer are technically confident and overlooked no musical detail

The life of John Prioris lies largely in the dark. Clearly, however, the artistic classification of the contemporaries who put him on the side of the great Josquin. The music Prioris characterized by a sonorous chords set with emphatic text declamation.

The Sun King is brought generally more with loud pomp in connection than with an intimate chamber music. Who wants to know what kind of music Louis XIV. In the private and intimate setting surrounded who receives an audible impression of it on this CD. The brothers Barthold and Wieland Kuijken, assisted by Robert Kohnen, leave the compositions of Francois Couperin "Le Grand" bestow a truly regal interpretation.

Throughout his life, the oboe played a key role in the music of Georg Friedrich Handel. For no other instrument did he compose such passionate, dramatic and virtuosic music. On this disc, the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle presents a selection of Handel's most beautiful works featuring the oboe. Xenia L�ffler, member of the Akademe f�r Alte Musik Berlin, is the soloist. Vocal parts in the arias with oboe are sung by the young coloratura soprano Marie Friederike Sch�der, a shooting star of the baroque music scene.

Lange was one of his bassoon concertos as a work of Mozart, as it were a kind of quality for the music Deviennes. Even a virtuoso flautist (and painted as such by David) predominate in the chamber music of Francois Devienne (1759-1803) the art of wind instruments. What pearls beautiful music for flute as far unheeded resting in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale, lead us Barthold Kuijken and his colleagues on this CD. Mozart quartets for flute are these works anyway after in terms of charm in anything.

Reutter: Arie & Sinfonie / Vermeulen, Ensemble Nuovo Aspetto, Reutter / Vermeulen / Ensemble Nuovo Aspetto, Release Date: 09/25/2012, Composer: Karl Georg von Reutter, Performer: Olivia Vermeulen, Orchestra/Ensemble: Nuovo Aspetto, Number of Discs: 1. Johann Georg Reutter (1708-1772) was court composer for Emperor Charles VI and Maria Theresa in Vienna at the time of the greatest territorial expansion of the Habsburg Empire. This was an era when the music life of the court was at a high point. At an early age Reutter gained an strong reputation as the creator of oratorios and opera, and through the accumulation of numerous offices at court and at St. Stephen's Cathedral, he held by the end of his life a position of considerable influence.

Barthold Kuijken named this album Bach vs. Haydn because it aims to compare and contrast important works by two major composers that were written at almost the same time. C.P.E. Bach wrote his Quartets in 1788. They are considered to be among his very best creations; he was to die a year after they were composed. Haydn composed the Trios heard here in 1789, at the end of his period with the Eszterh�zys. The stylistic differences between the two are enormous. In Bach, we find St�rm und Drang (storm and stress) and Empfindsamkeit (sensitivity); in Haydn, alongside his typical wit and moving depth, we find elegance, charm and the cantabile quality of Viennese Classicism.

This 7-album set presents the complete recordings made by Paul Dombrecht on the Accent label. Few Flemish woodwind players are as renowned as Dombrecht, whose name is well-known to all budding oboists. The recordings were made between 1978 and 1988 and include music by Telemann, Zelenka, and other baroque composers as well as music for oboe from the romantic period. Dombrecht teams up with Wieland Kuijken, Robert Kohnen, Jos van Immerseel, and other fine early music specialists. Paul Dombrecht performs the oboe on period instruments as well as the modern oboe. He is a much sought-after soloist all over Europe, who plays frequently with other prominent musicians and Baroque orchestras. Along with his profound knowledge of early music, he is also a virtuoso on the modern oboe, performing the complete repertoire for the instrument, including the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to being an oboist, Paul Dombrecht is active as conductor and artistic director of the Baroque orchestra (and choir) Il Fondamento, which he formed in 1989, the wind ensemble Octophoros and the Paul Dombrecht Consort. As a musical director of these ensembles he advocates as intuitive and honest musical approach. As a conductor, he performs works ranging from chamber music to large-scale productions and opera.

In all other respects, the prima donnas- the title figures and central heroines- stand at the center of the spotlight. However, Handel and Vivaldi also had a special affection for the "women in the shadows" - for the queens, the servants or the spurned lovers, mostly sung in female alto voice. They were given breathtakingly beautiful arias: full of lament, sensuality, vengefulness or fury. In recent years, the German contralto Julia B�hme has developed into one of the most in-demand performers of 17th and 18th century music. Her vocal elegance and expressiveness, historically sourced style and unique timbre are just as characteristic of her as a performer as her dramatic intensity and versatility. Concerts and opera productions have taken her to the Dresden Music Festival, the Vienna Musikverein, Prague, Leipzig, Halle, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, Versailles, the Laieszhalle Hamburg and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing. Johann Sebastian Bach,: Cantatas, BWV 82, 178, 102 (2006) Christoph Genz (tenor), Elisabeth Hermans (soprano), Jan Van der Crabben (baritone), La Petite Bande, Petra Noskaiova (alto) Sigiswald Kuijken

It is well known that in Venice a “Golden Age” of compositional, vocal, and instrumental musical creativity and virtuosity emerged, and then flourished during the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s. The 16th century experienced a substantial development in the cappella ducale of Saint Mark’s, which, until the end of the 17th century, remained the leading center of musical activity in the city. Evidence of this comes from the profusion of significant musicians that it received in that “Golden Age”: either as maestri di cappella, or as organists (Claudio Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli), or as virtuoso instrumentalists (the cornet player Giovanni Bassano). Claudio Merulo and Andrea Gabrieli played a decisive role in the simultaneous emergence of Venetian keyboard and stile concertato music. The latter’s nephew Giovanni Gabrieli can be thought of as the standard-bearer of the Venetian School as a whole. The cornett virtuoso Giovanni Bassano composed magnificent polychoral motets in stile concertato for the idiosyncratic liturgy found at St Mark’s. With such works Bassano emerges as the worthy successor of the Gabrielis. Les Traversees Baroques, on this release, explores all of these composers of the Golden Age.

Mozart: The Da Ponte Operas / Kuijken, La Petite Bande, Mozart / Petite Bande / Kuijken, Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Performer: Monica Groop, Yves Saelens, B�atrice Cramoix, Philip Defrancq, Conductor: Sigiswald Kuijken, Orchestra/Ensemble: La Petite Bande, Namur Chamber Choir, La Petite Bande Chorus, Number of Discs: 9.