In the most complete edition possible, this recording features Mozart's horn concertos including the unfinished movements and the first movement of K412 in which Mozart wrote some scandalous text. Herman Jeurissen did all the research and is one of the top horn players in the world. The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is conducted by an inspired Roy Goodman.

Mozart: Gehn wir i'm Prater, Secular Canons, Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Artist Chamber Choir Of Europe, Nicol Matt conductor, Format 1 CD, Mozart considered canon-writing an essential compositional skill. Though canons are often small chamber works to be performed in company, Mozart's sketches of some of these works show that the composer carefully considered them before completion, giving them as much thought as his larger and more famous works. This collection includes Mozart's complete canons. The works vary in instrumentation and character; among the vocal ones are puzzle canons (which show one line of music and text, along with only the entry points of the other parts), the ambitious 12-part V'amo di core and the multi-lingual Bona nox! Bist a rechta Ox. Mozart's sense of humor is demonstrated in the two canons written to the daringly-named text of Leck mir den Arsch, as well as in the Difficile lectu mihi mars et jonicu difficile which, provided that the singer has the right accent, provides much hilarity. Aside from the vocal canons, there are several written for instruments, including the Adagio in F major, composed for two basset horns and bassoon. The vocal canons are performed here by the acclaimed Chamber Choir of Europe, directed by Nicol Matt. The collection also boasts performances by the Klarinetten-Trio der Musikschule Achern-Oberkirch and distinguished soloists of the W�rttembergischen Philharmonie Reutlingen. Recorded November 2002, Alte Kirche Fautenbach, Germany. That Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not the angelic Wunderkind living in his musical heaven of divine inspiration is proven by his secular canons, which he wrote as a personal pastime entertainment. This is the other side of the genius, essential in order to get the complete picture of Mozart the man and musician. Not all canons bear titles like "leck mir den Arsch", some others are extremely witty and inventive musical jokes. Expertly sung and performed by the Chamber Choir of Europe, conducted by Nicol Matt.

REVIEW:

[It's] charming: Sigiswald Kuijken’s touch, as one might guess, is light and airy, the period instruments are well and expressively played, the recording itself is vivid and bright...Kuijken’s fast tempos, even for both of Sarastro’s arias, take some of the mystery out of this character and place him in a more popular, fairy-tale realm.

Suzie LeBlanc’s Pamina is loveliness itself, rising to heights in “Ach, ich fühls”, though not erasing memories of say, Gundula Janowitz and several others. Stephan Ganz is an enchanting Papageno, quick on his vocal feet, joyous and cowardly by turns, and like the rest, always intimate. Isolde Siebert is a cautious but accurate Queen of the Night, singing with as much venom as her little voice will allow and animated in the recits.

As suggested, Kuijken’s leadership is fleet and comic, the Three Ladies are sprightly and musical, and the Three Boys are from the Tölzer Knabenchor and are superb.

-- ClassicsToday.com

This newly recorded release offers an attractive and varied programme of music composed for the combination of violin and viola. The first half of the album features works for violin and viola solo: compositions by Mozart (one of his famous duos), Martinu (Three Madrigals), Spohr (Grand Duo), Ponce (Sonata), and the famous Passacaglia by Handel/Halvorsen. The next section contains concertante works for violin, viola and orchestra: the most famous work written for the genre, Mozart’s genius Sinfonia Concertante, the Sinfonia Concertante by Ignaz Pleyel, and the Concerto for violin, viola and orchestra by romantic Max Bruch. This rare and exciting music is performed by David Alogna and Jose Adolfo Alejo, accompanied by the Camerata de Coahuila, conducted by Ramon Shade.

These 7 works comprise J.S Bach's complete output of German motets in stark contrast to his prolific cantata output of over 200 works. German motets occupied a specific place in the canon of liturgical music in the 16 - 18 centuries. They were performed solely by the choir schools during services, the congregation remaining silent. Consequently, the writing is more complex than that found in works where the congregation could join in. It was customary for two motets to be sung at Sunday services, Vespers, weddings, funerals church induction ceremonies, inaugurations and university gatherings. Bach's works date from his time cantor at St Thomas's church in Leipzig, where on of his duties was to provide music for minor ceremonies.

Cabanilles: Complete Vocal Music, Composer Juan Baptista Jos� Cabanilles, Artist Amystis chamber choir & musicological society, Jos� Duce Chenoll conductor, Format 2 CD, Hailed in his time as Spain's greatest living composer, Joan Baptista Cabanilles is today considered by many to be the greatest of all Spanish Baroque composers, one whose wealth of ideas, mastery of counterpoint and command of form represent the climax of the Iberian tradition of organ music that stretched as far back as Cabez�n. That Cabanilles was held in high esteem by his contemporaries is shown by his music's wide distribution in manuscripts. Though the vast majority is for keyboard, there do exist some 10 sacred choral works - precious remnants of what must have been a much larger repertory, probably conceived for the cathedral of Valencia in which the composer spent most of his working life. All of the works are assembled on this charming release, recorded by the chamber choir and musicological society Amystis, and a significant addition the Spanish Baroque discography that follows the completion of the critical edition by Jos� Duce Chenoll of Cabanilles' entire vocal music output. Chenoll, who directs and provides the intonation, postulates in the liner notes that not all of the compositions - which include a Mass and Magnificat as well as works honoring the Blessed Sacrament - were performed in Cabanilles' lifetime, given that many are written on sketch paper (and possibly, too, in the composer's hand), but this should not detract from their masterful quality. Revealing the composer's great expertise in the use of musical rhetoric as well as his concern regarding varied rhythmic and harmonic effects, they are performed with aplomb by an ensemble that have made it their special task to research and promote, always via novel means, unpublished repertoire from the late 16th to early 18th centuries. Recorded June & October 2012, El Puig de Santa Maria Royal Monastery, Valencia, Spain. Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712) was one of the most important Spanish Baroque composers. He served for 45 years as Maestro di Cappella and organist of the Cathedral of Valencia. He wrote a substantial oeuvre for keyboard (organ and harpsichord), and a fine body of choral works, of which this new issue presents the first complete recording. Cabanilles' choral works are grand scale, virtuoso and festive, composed for filling the vast spaces of the Valencia Cathedral. Beautifully sung by the Coro Amystis, who did extensive research into the works of this neglected Spanish composer. An important release, a valuable discovery of a treasure from the Spanish Baroque.

MONTEVERDI: MADRIGALS, BOOKS 5

Presenting books 3 and 4 of Monteverdi’s madrigals, this release is the latest installment of the Complete Madrigals cycle by Le Nuove Musiche.; These works move from a Renaissance style to a more emotional and expressive way of setting the texts. This causes the works on this album to be much more moving and impactful.; Le Nuove Musiche is led by conductor Krijn Koetsveld, and is made up of the elite of Dutch Early Music vocalists. The first installment in this edition, Books 5 and 6, received a five star rating in the French Diapason.

Le Nuove Musiche, led by acclaimed director Krijn Koetsveld, continue with their exceptional series of Claudio Monteverdi's complete madrigals. This time they turn their attention to Book VIII, the intriguingly entitled Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi (Madrigals of Love and War), published four years after Monteverdi's death. These two contrasting themes divide the book into two halves; first war, then love. There's more corssover than might be expected: the first half of warlike madrigals ends with the tragic Il combattiment odi Tancredi e Clorinda, based on Torquato Tasso's poem which sees Tancredi fighting a disguised Clorida, fatally injuring her before realizing that it is a fair maiden rather than a male foe. Despite nearing the end of his life, Monteverdi still demonstrates his knack for innovation, experimenting freely with the gentre of the madrigal in the new context of the basso continuo. Le Nuove Musiche's approach to Monteverdi is an innovative one: to bring the past into the present, keeping alive the questions of the Renaissance that still permeate oru musical landscape today, while seeking to maintain the highest standards of performance authenticity. Their release of Books V & VI garnered excellent reviews, including five stars in the French magazine Diapason.

With this recording the acclaimed ensemble Le Nuove Musiche, led by director Krijn Koetsveld, have come full circle and at last completed their monumental undertaking of a complete cycle of Claudio Monteverdi's books of madrigals. In bringing this endeavour to a close the group have returned to their starting point, recording a fresh take of perhaps the most famous set, Monteverdi's groundbreaking Books V & VI, previously released by Le Nuove Musiche one decade ago at the start of this musical journey. With these two books of madrigals Monteverdi unequivocally made his forward-thinking position clear in the heated debate over musical aesthetics that had been raging fiercely in Florentine artistic circles. Defying his critics, he distanced himself from conservative practices by declaring his own methods a 'second practice', the seconda prattica. He abandoned the confines of a single mode, freely adding piquant dissonance to underpin emotionally charged words in the text, thus heightening the drama. He also began exploiting the basso continuo as an independent harmonic foundation for melody - the dawn of monody, a solo-and-accompaniment style that would surpass polyphony as the basis for the music of so many later generations of composers. Le Nuove Musiche's approach to Monteverdi is both dedicated and informed. They bring the past into the present, considering questions that were asked in the Renaissance and are still relevant in our present musical landscape, thereby making Early Music as new today as any other, while maintaining the highest standards of performance authenticity.

The genre “canzonette” is the light version of the madrigal: using only 3 voices it is playful and popular in character, based on secular poems in a strophic form of three or four verses with ritornello. Monteverdi composed his “Canzonette a tre voci” when he was seventeen years old, in order to gain recognition with a wider audience, and they have proven to be a perfect preparation for the more serious and complex works he later embarked upon such as the madrigals and the operas. These delightful works are performed with the right light hearted mood and dramatic impact by Armoniosoincanto, conducted by Franco Radicchia, using a rich continuo ensemble consisting of flutes, viola da braccia, viola da gamba, theorbo, baroque guitar and harpsichord.

This CD presents an original selection of works by composers associated with Freemasonry: Spontini, Berlioz, Clementi, Sibelius, Puccini, Ciannella. Although comprising highly varied music that reveals the diversity of styles embraced by freemasonry, this collection is a charming assortment of carefully selected works that gives equal standing to the famous and less well-known.

This CD brings together three works for guitar and strings which are inspired by the majestic landscape of Norway, it's fjords, mountains, springs and woods, the silence and mystique. Italian guitarist and composer Giorgio Mirto wrote his Concerto Norwegian Memories on the basis of old legends and fairy tales. The "Viking Concerto" by Norwegian composer Gisle Krogseth is a 20th century pendant of Peer Gynt, it's three movements named "Returning from Abroad", "Night in the Woods" and "A Feast, a Fight and a Funeral". Played with great intensity by the master himself, Giorgio Mirto, accompanied by the Florence String Ensemble.

Caspar Johann Mertz was born in Bratislava in 1809 at a time when the guitar was a celebrated instrument throughout the Habsburg Empire. By the time he became a musician himself, however, the guitar boom was over. The Russian nobleman Nicolai Petrovich Makarov (1800-1890) I wrote in his memoirs: 'Is the guitar lost forever?, I wondered. Can anything be done to spur them on to new musical meaning? Are no further technical improvements possible? Are the talented composers gone forever?' And in an attempt to prevent his prophecy from coming to fulfillment, he founded a guitar competition in Brussels in 1856, which was duly won by Mertz, a few months before his death, playing the Concertino which was his last composition. The impact of Makarov's competition remained low, and only in recent years has Mertz's name become more widely known, not least thanks to the evocative tone-poems which make up the 11-plus volumes of B�rdenklange Op.13. Released in 2014, the Brilliant Classics album by Graziano Salvoni was the most complete recording yet of B�rdenklange and enthusiastically received in the international guitar press. Giuseppe Chiaramonte has now produced an essential complement to it in terms of appreciating the music of a forgotten Romantic. He opens with the set of Three Pieces Op.65 which includes his best-known work, the Fantasie Hongroise. He continues with the less-familiar, soulful strains of the Pianto dell'Amante and similarly reflective works which anticipate with the guitar the kind of inward, contemplative writing for the piano with which Liszt much later became associated: La Rimembranza, Pens�e Fugitive and Harmonie du soir all deserve much wider attention, not least for their rapt melodic beauty. Chiaramonte concludes this invaluable album with one of the operatic fantasias with which guitarist performer/composers earned their way around Europe in the 19th century: this one on Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Gustav Adolf Merkel (1827-1885) was a German Romantic composer, mainly for his own instrument, the organ. He completed his studies in Dresden, where he stayed until his death as organist and teacher. He also had lessons with Robert Schumann in Leipzig. Merkel’s style is strongly influenced by Baroque counterpoint, notably by Johann Sebastian Bach, which he incorporated in the romantic idiom of his time, with its warm harmonies and long melodic lines. On this new recording we hear two of his Organ Sonatas, large-scale 4-movement works, of which the number 6, “Choral-Sonata” is the most famous. Italian organist Carlo Guandalino plays the magnificent organ of the Cathedral of Thiene (Vicenza, Italy), restored by the famous organ builder Zanin, the specifications of which are included in the booklet.