Little is known about the life of German violinist and composer Johann Jakob Walther. It is said that he was a violinist in the orchestra of Cosimo III from 1670 to 1674, and afterwards was concertmaster at the court of Dresden. Forty of Walther’s compositions are extant, and are contained in two volumes: Scherzi da Violino solo con il basso continuo, published in 1676, and Hortulus chelicus, published in 1688. This release features his Hortulus Chelicus, which scholars believe was composed between 1650 and 1688. In this collection, Walther wrote at a new, higher technical playing level for the violin. The musicians featured on this recording perform on period instruments- Baroque violin, harpsichord, and Baroque cello.

CONTENTS:

• My First CLASSICAL MUSIC Album
• My First MOZART Album
• My First BEETHOVEN Album
• My First TCHAIKOVSKY Album
• My First PIANO Album
• My First VIOLIN Album
• My First BALLET Album
• My First LULLABY Album
• My First ORCHESTRA Album

Rossini's musical wit and zest for comic characterisation have enriched the operatic repertoire immeasurably, and his overtures distil these qualities into works of colourful orchestration, bravura and charm. From his most popular, such as La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder) and La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie), to the rarity Matilde of Shabran, the full force of Rossini's dramatic power is revealed in these masterpieces of invention. Each of the four discs in this set has received outstanding international acclaim, with Volum 2 described as "an unalloyed winner" by ClassicsToday , and the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra's playing described as "stunning" by American Record Guide (Volume 3).

Joseph Haydn’s string quartets, often rated as the basis for playing quartets, represented far more than an obligation to the Amadeus Quartet. During their entire career, which spans four decades, they thoroughly and continually dedicated themselves to these works, especially those of Haydn’s middle and late periods. Most of their concert programs featured a quartet by Haydn and in their sonic legacy, Haydn’s string quartets make up more than a fifth of the total. The musicians held these works in such high esteem due, on the one hand, to their relative technical ease and, on the other, their high musical demands.

REVIEW::

This batch is devoted entirely to Haydn, and includes works that the Amadeus never recorded commercially: Opp 9/3, 20/5, and 33/2 (The Joke). For the last, the Amadeus cut a forceful profile in the scherzo and make an affectionate beeline for the gentle ‘joke’ at the close of the finale. Their playing of the F minor Quartet (Op 20/5) suggests implied parallels with Mozart’s G minor Quintet in the scherzo, while the lilting Adagio is given the loveliest reading imaginable. The C major Quartet Op 54 No 2 features a brief Adagio that can only be described as cantorial: the solo violin wails expressively over supportive chords, the effect not unlike the ‘beklemmt’ passage in Beethoven’s Cavatina (the Quartet Op 130). We’re given a complete recording of the Quartet from 1969 and that movement alone as recorded in 1950, both extraordinarily moving. Fifteen works are included overall (the majority originating in Haydn’s later period), including The Seven Last Words which is additionally available as a downloadable ‘extended version’ with German texts. An unmissable collection.

— Gramophone

The importance of this set cannot be overstated. First released on seven separate albums by Olympia, it launched the international reputation of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow as one of the world’s foremost duos, and it remains the only complete recording of Schubert’s original duet compositions including many little-known masterpieces and one Polonaise completed by Goldstone from Schubert’s unfinished manuscript. Each album concludes with a Polonaise encore written by Schumann, inspired by Schubert. The set represents the whole stretch of Schubert’s output from D. 1 to D. 968. The performances are superb, exhilarating and perfectly integrated: the husband and wife team really do play like one person with four hands. Tragically, Anthony Goldstone died on January 2, 2017 while the design work of this set was being finalized, and did not live to see the reissue of this marvelous collection, repackaged and remastered as a complete set.

In a series of interviews with Camille De Rijck, Philippe Herreweghe sums up his musical trajectory by offering the reader his reflections, intermingling musical and personal considerations. A selection of archive illustrations to delight the eyes and an updated biography complete the contents of the book, which is published in four languages. A five-disc compilation of extracts chosen and discussed by the conductor himself provides a musical counterpoint to the text. The selection enables you to explore a whole life through the finest works of such composers as Lassus, Schein, Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Dvorak and Stravinsky. Thanks to the long-standing close collaboration between Philippe Herreweghe and his favorite ensembles - Collegium Vocale Gent, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic - this anthology of his most remarkable interpretations is also an opportunity to experience at leisure the extraordinary palette of colors and timbres that he invariably succeeds in obtaining from them, and transports us to the very heart of the Flemish conductor's inner world.

The artistic heritage of Antonio Vivaldi, acknowledged for his talent as far as the mastery of instrumental music is concerned, has waited for years for a correct evaluation in the opera music field as well. On the other hand, a musician who in 1739, at 61 years of age, was able to boast of having composed no less than 94 operas had a legitimate right to describe himself first and foremost an opera composer. Nowadays, unfortunately, only 23 of his opera scores have been preserved and not all are complete; as the scholar Reinhard Strohm writes, “We’re only able to document approximately 60 operatic performances between 1713 and 1739, in which the composer was personally involved in various ways. For these performances, he may have chosen the complete score, revised music by other composers, chosen and instructed the singers, rehearsed and conducted the performance, influenced revisions of his music by others, or worked in any combination of these possibilities. If we give a wide meaning to the word, Vivaldi was just as much an opera ‘impresario’ as an opera composer. This wasn’t at all common in Italy at that time and even less so for a priest. The least we can deduce from this situation was Vivaldi’s profound artistic passion for musical theatre.” Composed in 1724 for Rome’s Capranica Theatre, Giustino is a cornerstone work, situated on the ridge between the Red Priest’s old and new styles; precise indication of this importance is given by the fact that the customary borrowing from oneself, current usage in that period, is considerably reduced by Vivaldi for this work. Rather than to save time, since the inclusion of pre-existent episodes in the libretto and the score nevertheless involved laborious revision, this careful selection of the borrowing was used by Vivaldi to gather together a good part of his best previous music to impress the public: Giustino, as Strohm again states, is a sort of “Vivaldi anthology.” In fact, the borrowed pieces are often to be ranked among the best he’d ever written.

Francisco Correa de Arauxo’s surviving music is contained entirely in his Facultad organica of 1626. Published in Alcala under the composer’s own direction, this constitutes one of the largest and most significant works in the entire history of the organ. His compositions embody a wide range of characteristics, some rational and well structured, others mystical and even eccentric. Correa no doubt intended his works to be played in meantone temperament- the normal tuning system at the time for organs, and the one heard on these recordings. Robert Bates is an award winning, internationally known recording artist, recitalist, composer, and a specialist in early French and Spanish Organ music. His recordings include “Viaticum,” containing eight of his own compositions as well as “Complete Organ Works of Jehan Titelouze.” His live performance for the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists is available as “In Recital at Lagerquist Hall.” Professor at the Moores School of Music, Houston, Texas, Professor Bates previously served as University Organist at Stanford University where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology.

Throughout the world Christmas is celebrated – and everywhere, singing Christmas carols is part of the celebrations. This limited special edition offers over 100 of the most beautiful German and international carols: For the first time, the “Weihnachtslieder” (German Christmas Carols) as well as the “Weihnachtslieder aus aller Welt” (Christmas Carols of the World) of the prize-winning LIEDERPROJEKT are being issued together in an incredible four-release set. The LIEDERPROJEKT is a charity project produced by Carus and Southwest German Radio. For every album set sold, 2 EUR will be donated to projects which promote singing with children.

Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply The Ring. Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence, Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried and finally, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). This production, featuring the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and the Den Jyske Operas Kor conducted by Francesco Cristofoli was recorded live on September 6, 1987.

These three facets in the prism of Mozart’s operatic genius shine in Glyndebourne’s typically thought-provoking productions, featuring skilled singer–actors buoyed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s luminous period sound. Nicholas Hytner’s beautiful, ‘shockingly traditional’ production of Così fan tutte frames artful performances teased by Ivan Fischer from an outstanding international cast of convincing young lovers. Michael Grandage’s staging of Le nozze di Figaro is Glyndebourne’s seventh in a line stretching back to the company’s 1934 début production. Marshalled by the ‘ideal pacing’ of Robin Ticciati, a youthful cast of principals has ‘no weak link’ and ‘looks gorgeous’ (The Sunday Times). David McVicar’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail offers a ‘mesmerising, sensitive ... outstanding’ portrayal of Enlightenment-era fascination with the East that is both ‘exquisitely acted and sung’ (The Guardian), and Ticciati leads the OAE through a restored, authentic rendition of the critical score with ‘lovely fizz’ and ‘poignant gravitas’. (The Independent). "Glorious orchestral playing and magnificent singing under Iván Fischer" ( Cosi fan tutte - BBC Music Magazine) "Finely conducted by Robin Ticciati, McVicar’s production of Mozart’s Turkish comedy is a vocal and visual treat." (Die Entführung - The Stage) "... this is a Figaro of rare grace, naturalness and charm." (Le Nozze di Figaro - The Daily Telegraph)

Sir Thomas Beecham caught ‘live’ often showed the mercurial side of his character, and no performance was the same either in the studio or in the concert hall. ‘What Beecham sought at all times was freshness, and his unpredictability was a way to achieve this’ (David Patmore). All the performances included here from the Edinburgh Festival, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the BBC Studios are from Beecham’s final years, from 1954 when he had fully established the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and himself as central figures in England’s musical life, to 1959 when he conducted an extraordinarily memorable account of Brahms’s Symphony No.2. Every broadcast is captured here in exemplary sound for the time, and apart from the Liszt and Haydn Symphony No.101, none of the performances in this set have appeared on an album before, which makes it extremely important for all collectors of the conductor.