In her own words, Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) had been gifted by nature with a "small, invisible engine" that allowed her to do in ten minutes what others needed an hour for. This inner drive can be demonstrated in all areas of this Polish artist's life. She was an excellent violinist from an early age, had success as a writer and wrote her first compositions as a teenager - all at a dizzying pace and yet the quality of her works are not superficial in the least. This new release by cpo is the second in a series of her complete symphonic works. After presenting her Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4, works from the early 1950s, Lukasz Borowicz and the WDR Symphony Orchestra perform more examples of Bacewicz's wealth of expression. These include the neoclassical outbursts of the Overture (1943) and the Second Symphony (1951), the sophisticated, already strongly timbre-oriented Variations for Orchestra (1957) and the Tre movimenti, in which Grazyna Bacewicz had achieved her "late" style - the so-called "sonorism", in which the colour of sound plays an essential structural role. After these "three movements", the "small engine" ran for almost another four years - this phenomenal musician had completed everything faster than the others. Her invisible drive can still be heard here today.

The focus of this album, consisting almost entirely of world premiere recordings on period instruments in modern times, is on Johann David Heinichen. Ensemble Sans Souci/Giuseppe Nalin: oboe, leader/Nicol� Dotti: oboe/Paolo Tognon: bassoon/Fabiano Merlante: theorbo, archlute, viola da gamba/Massimiliano Varusio: cello, viola da gamba/Michele Gallo: bass/Marco Vincenzi: harpsichord.

Johann David Heinichen German Sacred Cantatas Johann David Heinichen studied law in Leipzig, became associated with Telemann's circle and just as he, attracted so much attention with his Protestant sacred music that a trip to Italy lasting several years was granted to him to further broaden his musical horizons. In 1716, he was ultimately appointed court conductor at the Dresden court of August the Strong - a position that Johann Sebastian Bach, two years his junior, would have been pleased to obtain. The works on this recording include Heinichen's "Protestant" creative period, where more than two dozen German sacred cantatas of colourful design and expression have survived - from serious chorale movements to lyrical and picturesque settings that are not always completely "devotional".

Following the premiere of Brescianello's Tisbe, Johann David Heinichen's Flavio Crispo is now the second discovery of a never-performed Baroque opera in an interpretation by Il Gusto Barocco. This Italian opera by Heinichen, one of the most valuable documents of it's times in matters of compositional history, had been forgotten for some three hundred years until the ensemble premiered it in 2016. The historical circumstances behind this opera are very special: a quarrel involving the two world-famous castrati Senesino and Berselli caused a scandal that prevented the premiere of Heinichen's opera at the Dresden court. Some anecdotes relate that the singers accused the composer of imperfect knowledge of Italian and tore the score to shreds during the rehearsal process while he looked on. Others state that Handel had wooed away the Dresden singers during a journey from Italy to London. The score is a masterpiece. To be specific, Heinichen selects a highly exquisite instrumentation in order to depict the purity and fragility of the female character Elena: in the orchestral ritornellos three sorrowful oboe voices are heard without any sort of bass foundation - their song of lament itself is accompanied by the quiet pizzicato of the strings and in our interpretation of the basso continuo by harp arpeggios. This melancholy and fragile Act II finale is an exemplary instance of Heinichen's poetic and highly sensitive setting of this opera libretto.

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.

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by Johann David Heinichen. Ensemble: Epoca Barocca.

"As a piece from an opera" was the intention of the Protestant theologian and poet Erdmann Neumeister (1671-1756) in his Geistliche Cantaten (sacred cantatas), which he first published in 1702. No wonder that several composers of sacred music jumped at the chance to use his texts to fulfill their duties. The varied structure of the poetry, some of which rhymes quite drastically, lends itself well to musical settings, in which recitatives, arias, choruses, and chorales alternate quite easily. As such, devout congregations could be presented with theological subjects in a non-ascetic manner. There were, of course, more austere cantatas with settings of psalms or other passages of the Holy Scriptures, either on their own or in connection with new poetic creations. This present production combines four examples from the quills of two contemporaries who successfully attempted various playing techniques, apparently in a relatively undogmatic phase.

Affecting Passions by Heinichen. The Passion music Johann David Heinichen wrote for the Dresden court is a document of cultural and confessional openness of the Saxon residence, and his two Italian oratorios heard here are surrogates of large-scale Passion music. "Come? S'imbruna il ciel" - composed in 1728 - is the latest of the sepolcri, his other Passion "L'aride tempie ignude" the first of the sepolcri to survive from Heinichen in Dresden. Both texts are by Stefano Pallavicino, who had been active at the Dresden court since 1719. In the first-mentioned Passion, the meditation on the Passion event recurs to the experience of the earthquake that, according to biblical accounts, occurred immediately after the death of Jesus. The description of the violent natural events gives Mary the Mother of God, John (Jesus' favorite disciple), and Mary Magdalene an opportunity to reflect on their relationship to the Crucified. Different aspects of affection and love are thematized. The meditation on the Passion event in the second-named Passion is designed as an allegorical play of death (Morte) and hope (Speranza), divine love (Amor divino) and penance (Poenitenza), and follows an easily comprehensible dramaturgy. The affinity to opera seria is evident in both passions not only in the arrangement of the pieces. The keys, gestures and instrumentation also correspond to the models familiar from baroque musical theater. Full of affect!

A few years ago, the name of Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729) came out of the blue as a wonderful surprise. Baroque music lovers around the world were amazed to discover an obscure composer who, in his best works, was second to none--easily comparable to Vivaldi in terms of originality, rhythmic exuberance, and boundless imagination. A half decade and a few recordings later, Heinichen has become a popular name, and rightly so. These Dresden Wind Concertos display treasures of passionate invention, energized by a spectacular use of dynamic contrasts and poetized by delicate touches of lyricism in the solo writing for woodwinds. Just listen to the dialogue (an obbligato figure in Heinichen's style) between traverso flute and pizzicato strings in the Concerto S. 225's last movement, or the biting orchestral outbursts in the G minor oboe concerto. Examples of Heinichen's vivid, sometimes unpredictable inspiration abound in every page of these extraordinary works. The Fiori Musicali ensemble, on period instruments, plays with enthusiasm and poetic commitment. The virtuosity may not be as extreme as that of Concerto Köln (on Capriccio), but each performance reaches a perfect balance between expressive ardor and precision--a quality mirrored by the accurate and natural sonics of the Radio Bremen engineers. --Luca Sabbatini, ClassicsToday.com

The music of the Court of Dresden is of special interest to Hans-Christoph Rademann and his two Dresden ensembles, the Kammerchor and the Barockorchester. Johann David Heinichen's Masses Nos.11&12 are presented in a manner in which the musicians can display the entire majestic sound of this festive court music from the baroque era. Mr. Rademann is one of the most sought-after choral conductors and widely acknowledged specialists in choral sound in the world. His concerts and recordings of music from the 17th-18th c., particularly the musical treasures of Saxony, are pioneering.

Includes work(s) by Johann David Heinichen. Ensemble: Il Fondamento.

In the 18th century, Dresden developed into a magnificent baroque residence, which was soon given the nickname "Florence on the Elbe". Music played a special role in the representation of political power, and the "Dresden Court Orchestra" was famous throughout Europe. Dresden court life was Protestant in character, despite the politically motivated conversion of Elector August "the Strong" and his son, Elector Prince Friedrich August II, to the Catholic faith. This changed with the marriage of the Elector Prince to the strictly Catholic daughter of Emperor Joseph I, Maria Josepha. A new court had to be established and Catholic church music had to be built up along the lines of the Viennese imperial court. From then on, the Protestant court conductor Johann David Heinichen had to write splendid church music. The "Vespers for the Feast of St. Xavier" honored the favorite saint of the new Electress, who appointed him special patron saint for Dresden. Heinichen's magnificent setting, available here as a premiere recording, once again demonstrates the importance of Dresden court music in this period.