Recorded in: St Peter's Church, Morden, Surrey 9-11 October 1991 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Richard Lee Jonathan Cooper (Assistant)

Including some of the most beautiful baroque Christmas music on offer, this programme makes for the perfect Christmas collection. 'This is period-instrument performance at its best', wrote American Record Guide on the CD's original release. It is re-issued here for the first time. Three popular favourites, Corelli's gorgeous concerto for Christmas Eve, an idyllic Christmas concerto by Vivaldi, and Manfredini's Concerto grosso are complemented by two little-known cantatas by Telemann and Scarlatti. Each of the Italian composers has his own voice, contrasting tremendously with the more rugged German style of Telemann. Susan Gritton is the soloist in Scarlatti's cantata, described by Classic CD as 'ravishing and ravishingly sung... worth anyone's CD token'. This is a disc of intimate Christmas music, which will make an ideal stocking filler. As Classic CD wrote at the time of the original release, 'This is a delightful addition to the Christmas market, and the careful selection of its items and superb recording ensure that, like the traditional puppy, it's not just for Christmas'.

REVIEW:

These Baroque concertos and cantatas are all associated with Christmas, although some only marginally. The Scarlatti and Telemann cantatas were written for Christmas. The Manfredini and Corelli concertos probably received their associations with Christmas because each contains a pastorale movement, shepherds’ music in 12/8 time that Italian folk tradition associated with Christmas (the “Pifa” from Handel’s Messiah is another example). The Vivaldi concerto, one of his typical string concertos, seems to have received its seasonal connection from Vivaldi’s practice of programming it at Christmas time.

All of this music is delightful to hear. Many of Fanfare’s readers will probably have one or more of these works already, especially the concertos. The two cantatas are less often encountered, especially the Telemann, from the first movement of which we get the English carol Good Christian Men Rejoice. The playing and singing are excellent in all respects. Susan Gritton makes a major contribution in the solos of the Scarlatti cantata. Members of Collegium 90’s choir are equally good as soloists in the Telemann. Presiding over all, Simon Standage directs lively performances that respect the score and never stray into extremes of tempo.

This collection was issued 10 years ago under the title “Per la notte di natale.” In this reissue, Chandos provides full notes along with texts and translations, for which I commend them. Anyone looking for an enjoyable collection of Baroque music associated with Christmas need look no further.

-- Fanfare

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 6, 8 & 9 January 1996 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Ben Connellan Jonathan Cooper (Assistant) Richard Smoker (Assistant)

This present collection admirably shows the ingenious simplicity of Arne's writing, very much in the mid-eighteenth-century English pastoral school. At the beginning of 1751, when Thomas Arne published his 'Eight Overtures in 8 Parts', he had become the leading exponent of English dramatic music and the only Englishman who could offer Handel serious competition in the theatre. Arne's 'Eight Overtures' belongs to a tradition of making the instrumental introductions of vocal works available for concert use and divide into two types. Nos 1, 2,4,6,7 and 9 are examples of the older French type that was invented by Lully, was used in England from the 1680s onwards and is found in the majority of Handel's operas and oratorios. These overtures begin with dignified movements, often marked 'Largo' that have dotted rhythms, sharp dissonances to push the music along, and ornamental 'tirades' to create a sense of excitement. By contrast, overtures Nos 3 and 6 are really Italian sinfonias. This type of overture was developed in the early eighteenth century by Alessandro Scarlatti and his contemporaries, and usually consists of three movements: a bustling fast movement, a soulful slow movement and a minuet. As Arne's examples show, the Italian sinfonia was markedly more modern in musical style than the French overture. The final two overtures; 'Alfred' and 'Thomas and Sally', rarely recorded works, are also examples of the more modern Italian type.

Every so often one encounters a composer whose innovations had an enormous impact on music but whom subsequent events overshadowed. One such is Giuseppe Torelli, a great innovator who deserves to be credited with much of the early development of the concerto. This fascinating disc includes the Concerti Op.8, a landmark opus worthy of special attention, for it influenced a whole new generation of composers including Vivaldi, Telemann and Bach. These historically accurate performances give us a chance to experience these ground-breaking concertos as they would have been heard at the time, and will prove popular with scholars and fans of early music alike.

Recorded in: The Warehouse, London 11-13 March 1996 (Sonatas Nos 1-4 & 6), 28 March 2000 (Sonatas Nos 5 & 7) Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Ben Connellan

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 16-18 October 2000 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Jonathan Cooper Christopher Brooke (Assistant)

Simon Standage is particularly renowned for his Telemann recordings with Collegium Musicum 90. The repertoire here is especially vivacious and rich in melodic invention with the doubling of oboes and bassoons used to striking effect. Telemann's penchant for colour is strongly evident in the Burlesque de Quixotte. Collegium 90 is regarded as one of today's premiere early music groups and regularly receive outstanding reviews for their Chaconne recordings. Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 29-31 July 2002 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Jonathan Cooper Michael Common (Assistant)

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 8-9 January 1996 & 9-11 July 1996 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Ben Connellan Jonathan Cooper (Assistant) Richard Smoker (Assistant)

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 1-3 March 1994 Producer(s) Richard Lee Sound Engineer(s) Richard Lee Andrew Lang (Assistant)

The musical influence of the famous Arcangelo Corelli is witnessed in this set of recordings of unjustly neglected concertos by three of his pupils. The variety of these works is captured by the period instruments of the critically acclaimed baroque ensemble Collegium Musicum 90 under the direction of its founder, Simon Standage, who is also soloist here. The album reveals Corelli’s influence, from a style of execution that was of vital importance to the development of violin playing to a compositional manner that, in establishing the pre-eminence of the violin, proved central to the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto. Under its exclusive contract with Chandos, Collegium Musicum 90 has made more than sixty albums, forty of them with Simon Standage.

Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 11-17 January 1991 Producer(s) Tim Oldham Sound Engineer(s) Richard Lee Peter Sheldon (Assistant)

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 28-30 October 1998 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Jonathan Cooper Richard Smoker (Assistant)

Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 4-6 March 1998 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Jonathan Cooper Richard Smoker (Assistant)