Chamber Vespers

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The Devine Vespers, a service of evening prayer in the Roman-Catholic Church, has provided both occasion and inspiration for some of the most sumptuous music ever composed. But not many churches in the seventeenth century could afford the lavish instrumental and vocal resources needed to play the likes of Monteverdi's grandiose Vespro della Beata Vergine. For many of the smaller and more provincial churches, an acceptable compromise at evening service was the playing of smaller-scale sacred chamber music. This led in the seventeenth century to a tremendous outpouring of sacred music for small groups of singers and instrumentalists, as performed by The Gonzaga Band on this disc. During Vespers, it became commonplace to alternate the obligatory psalms with a number of extra-liturgical instrumental pieces. This recording follows the same structure. The psalms, by Banchieri, Finetti, Petrobelli, and Monferrato, are complemented and framed by a variety of joyous instrumental works by Tarditi, Cima, Piccinini, Frescobaldi, Crotti, Sances, and Cazzati. The Gonzaga Band was formed by the cornettist Jamie Savan in 1997 to explore historical approaches to the performance of vocal and instrumental music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its line-up is project led: the very best vocalists and period instrumentalists are hand picked according to the specialist requirements of each programme. On this recording, The Gonzaga Band is joined by the mezzo-soprano Clare Wilkinson and cornettist Gawain Glenton.

contents:

1 - Domine ad adjuvandum me by Orazio Tarditi

2 - Psalm 109, "Dixit Dominus" by Adriano Banchieri

3 - Sonata per cornetto by Giovanni Paolo Cima

4 - Psalm 2, "Laudate pueri" by Giacomo Finetti

5 - Toccata No. 4 by Alessandro Piccinini

6 - Psalm 2, "Laetatus sum" by Francesco Petrobelli

7 - Canzon terza by Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi

8 - Psalm 8, "Nisi Dominus" by Orazio Tarditi 

9 - Capriccio sopra un soggetto by G.A.Frescobaldi

10 - Psalm 5, "Lauda Jerusalem" by Natale Monferrato

11 - Sonata sopra, "Sancta Maria" by Archangelo Crotti

12 - Motetto Ave maris stella by Giovanni Felice Sances 

13 - Canticle: Magnificat by Adriano Banchieri

14 - Regina caeli by Maurizio Cazzati

Clare Wilkinson, mezzo-soprano

Gawain Glenton, cornett

The Gonzaga Band

Faye Newton, soprano

Jamie Savan, treble cornett, mute cornett

Richard Sweeney, theorbo

Steven Devine, harpsichord, chamber organ

dir. Jamie Savan

Bella Napoli

28 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 108 Mb

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Bella Napoli includes works from five composers influenced in Naples in the 17th and 18th centuries. Soprano Tuuli Lindeberg sings cantatas of Domenico Scarlatti, Giuseppe Porsile and Alessandro Scarlatti beautifully and a period-instrument ensemble Baccano, featuring some of the most prominent Baroque specialist musicians in Finland, performs also sonatas of Francesco Mancini, Domenico Scarlatti and Nicola Porpora with different line-ups.

A few hundreds of years ago musical life in Naples was lively, with contributions made by numerous foreign masters who imported and exported influences, ideas and sheet music. The nobility played an important role in this: they were not only ‘customers' and ‘sponsors' but also in many cases skilled musicians. Under their patronage, Naples produced an enormous quantity of sacred music, madrigals, instrumental music and vocal music that went on to enrich cultural life all over Europe. For a long time, opera was an imported commodity in Naples, described as ‘Venetian'. Over the centuries the term ‘Neapolitan opera' has come to signify much more than it geographically implies.

contents:

Francesco Mancini - Sonata 4 in A minor for recorder and b.c.

Domenico Scarlatti - No, non fuggire o Nice, cantata for soprano and b.c.

Domenico Scarlatti - Sonata K 91 in G major for violin and b.c.

Giuseppe Porsile - E già tre volte, cantata for soprano, recorder and b.c.

Nicola Porpora - Sonata in F major for cello and b.c.

Giuseppe Porsile - Quella pace gradita, cantata for soprano, violin, recorder, cello and b.c.

Baccano

Tuuli Lindeberg, Soprano

Hanna Haapamäki, Recorder

Mervi Kinnarinen, Baroque Violin

Jussi Seppänen, Baroque Cello

Eero Palviainen, Baroque Guitar, Lute

Markku Mäkinen,Harpsichord

Bernhard de Clairvaux - Medieval Music Of The Cistercians

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Bernard of Clairvaux, saint, ascetic, founder of numerous abbeys and crusade preacher, was a powerful man of the Church and a 12th century trailblazer. Ensemble officium presents a programme of Gregorian chant and early polyphony in celebration of this controversial saint. Included are songs by and about Bernard of Clairvaux and Gregorian chorales on the texts of the Song of Songs, which are closely linked with his theology.

contents:

1 - Domine, labia mea aperies

2 - Hymnus in festo St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Bernardus inclytis

3 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini Jesu: Jesu dulcis memoria

4 - Filia Jerusalem

5 - Quam pulchra es

6 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini Jesu II

7 - Electa mea

8 - Et dilectus meus

9 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini III

10 - Verbum caro factum est

11 - Salve virgo nobilis - Verbum caro - Et veritate

12 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini IV

13 - Ecce iste venit

14 - Quae est ista

15 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini V

16 - Surge, propera

17 - Anima mea - Descendi in hortum - Alma redemptoris mater

18 - Jubilus rhythmicus de nomini VI

19 - Vox turturis

20 - Sancte Bernarde

21 - Hymnus in festo St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Bernardus, doctor inclytus

Ensemble Officium

dir. Wilfried Rombach

Italian Recorder Sonatas

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Trio Passaggio was founded in 1991. The name of the ensemble is derived from the early baroque performance practice of improvising diminutions, an art which was cultivated principally in Italy. Trio Passaggio concertizes widely, mainly in Holland but also in France, Germany, Austria and Denmark. In september 1993 the ensemble was one of the laureates of the presentation competition organised by the "Nederlandse Impresariaat". In october 1994 it gave a successful series of concerts in the United States and Canada.

contents:

Biagio Marini - Sonata Duodecima (Op.VIII,1629)

Biagio Marini - Sonata Prima (Op.XIII,1629)

Biagio Marini - Romanesca (Op.III,1620

Biagio Marini - Sonata a due (Op.XXII,1655)

Tarquinio Merula - Capriccio Cromatico

Giovanni Pandolfi Mealli - Sonata Prima 'La Bernabea' (Op.IV,1660)

Giovanni Pandolfi Mealli - Sonata Quarta 'La Castella' (Op.III,1660)

Giovanni Pandolfi Mealli - Sonata Seconda 'La Cesta' (Op.IV,1660)

Tarquinio Merula - Tocatta del secondo tono

Benedetto Marcello - Sonata in a-minor (Op.II,3 1712)

Benedetto Marcello - Sonata in G-major (Op.I,6 1732)

Benedetto Marcello - Sonata in d-minor (Op.II,2 1712)

Trio Passaggio 

Matthias Maute, flauti

Norbert Kunst, fagotti

Pieter Dirksen, organo e cembalo

J.S.Bach - Violin Concertos

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RECORDING OF THE MONTH --BBC Music Magazine,Dec'15

Alina Ibragimova's interpretations of the violin concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach may be regarded as historically informed performances, though they are by no means the most extreme examples, considering that she plays a late 18th century instrument instead of a true Baroque violin, and her tonal quality is an appealing fusion of period practice and a warm modern sound, though without vibrato. More to the point of authenticity, Ibragimova infuses the concertos with an improvisational freedom that is true to Bach's time, and Jonathan Cohen and the period ensemble Arcangelo supply an energetic accompaniment that gives the music vigor and interest. Hyperion's vibrant recording places Ibragimova front and center, so her playing is always the focal point, though the ear is often drawn to details in the orchestra and the continuo part, which features the refreshing timbres of a lute

Alina Ibragimova recently transfixed Proms audiences with her live solo Bach performances. Back in the studio she has teamed up with the expert Arcangelo to record five Bach Violin Concertos, two undisputed masterpieces and three probable reconstructions: all to be treasured.

contents:

Violin Concerto in A minor BWV1041

Violin Concerto in E major BWV1042

Violin Concerto in A major BWV1055

Violin Concerto in G minor BWV1056

Violin Concerto in D minor BWV1052

Alina Ibragimova, violin

Arcangelo

dir. Jonathan Cohen

Gottfried Finger - Sonatae pro diversis instrumentis op.1

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Gottfried Finger (c.1655–1730) came into the world at the dawn of the High Baroque, a time of tremendous flux and experimentation. Born in Olmütz (now Olomouc in Moravia), Finger entered the service of the Prince-Bishop of Liechtenstein as a young man. The Prince maintained one of the leading court orchestras of Europe in nearby Kremsier, a musical Mecca that attracted a raft of famous musicians over the years: Biber, Schmelzer, Bertali. The evidence is sketchy, but it must have been at the Kremsier court where Finger developed his compositional skills and imbibed the musical traits that we nowadays characterize as Austrian—although, of course, that political entity did not yet exist. By the 1680s Finger was in London, where he found employment at the court of James II. This position was rather short-lived, as the court orchestra was dissolved in 1688 when James was forced into exile during the Glorious Revolution. Finger stayed on in London as a freelance musician; after the death of Purcell in 1695, Finger was consistently ranked one of the leading English composers for the theater. That position, however, was soon challenged. In March of 1700, the London Gazette ran an announcement of a rather curious competition, the task being to compose music to a play of Congreve, with a cash prize of 200 guineas awarded to the winner. Finger was pitted against three lesser composers: Daniel Purcell, John Eccles, and John Weldon. To everyone’s amazement, Weldon was declared the winner, and Finger was evidently so indignant at having lost that he left England immediately, never to return. The “injustice” of this contest and its outcome continued to resonate with the English for many years; both Burney and Roger North wrote disapprovingly of it. After England, Finger travelled to Mannheim, where he assumed the position of concertmaster of the orchestra of the newly built Electoral Residence. Here he remained until his death. 

Finger’s op. 1 is a collection of 12 sonatas for string ensemble with basso continuo ; like so much music of the period, it’s a toss-up whether the music should be performed in chamber or orchestral fashion. As performed on this CD, it’s strictly chamber music, which I think works perfectly well. It’s hard to pin down the music; in addition to the Austrian qualities that Finger shares with Biber and Schmelzer, there is so much that it isn’t . There’s nary a hint of the outré that characterizes contemporary French music, nor is there any of the nervous intensity of the Italians. Finger’s music combines Austrian Gemütlichkeit and English sophistication with a touch of German intellectualism. I find Finger’s sonatas both relaxing and exhilarating, a contradiction, perhaps, but it certainly reflects both the kaleidoscopic nature of music during the period and Finger’s cosmopolitan life. 

Echo du Danube is a well-established, pan-European period instrument ensemble with four previous titles on the Accent label to its credit; all of them garnered favorable responses from Fanfare reviewers J. F. Weber, Bertil van Boer and Michael Carter. I have nothing but the highest admiration for the performances on this disc. Depending on the scoring, there are as many as three violinists and one violist in the mix; the upper strings are expressive, supple, and suave. Director Christian Zincke also functions as the bass viola da gamba player, and together with keyboardist Lutz Gillmann they provide a solid underpinning for the group. Gillmann alternates between harpsichord and chamber organ; I find the sonority of the latter especially appropriate in the context of the string ensemble. Ample annotations and a thoroughly natural-sounding engineering job complete the picture. Another fine addition to the already extensive Accent catalog. Highly recommended. 

FANFARE: Christopher Brodersen 

contents:

Sonata prima pro Violino & Viola di Gamba

Sonata nona pro 3 Violinis

Sonata undecima pro 2 Violinis & Viola

Sonata quinta pro 2 Violinis & Viola di Basso

Sonata settima pro 3 Violinis

Sonata terza pro Violino & Viola di Gamba

Sonata duodecima pro 2 Violinis & Viola

Sonata quarta pro 2 Violinis & Viola di Basso

Sonata decima pro 2 Violinis & Viola

Sonata ottava pro 3 Violinis

Sonata seconda pro Violino & Viola di Gamba

Sonata sesta pro 2 Violinis & Viola di Basso

Echo du Danube

dir. Christian Zincke

J.G.Müthel - The 5 Keyboard Concertos

2 CD - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 190 Mb

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J.S. Bach's first biographer Johann Forkel numbered Johann Gottfried Muthel (1728-88) among the most remarkable of Bach's pupils, while Charles Burney ranked Muthel's works as among the greatest productions of the present age. The composer's five keyboard and strings concertos, distinctly individual, displaying sophisticated rhythms and harmonic playfulness, typify his eras straddling between the Baroque and Viennese Classicism. The young Polish harpsichordist Marcin Vitkiewicz is supported by his acclaimed period band compatriots, Arte dei Suonatori, on his BIS début.

contents:

CD 1

Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in C Minor

Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in D Minor

CD 2

Keyboard Concerto No. 4 in D Major

Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in G Major

Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in B-Flat Major

Marcin Vitkiewicz, harpsichord

Arte dei Suonatori

Romina Basso & Latinitas Nostra - Lamento

5 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 97 Mb

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This is the first solo recital recording of mezzo soprano Romina Basso, yet currently one of the most busy and outstanding baroque specialists. Recorded in Athens with the Greek musicians of the Latinitas Notra ensemble and led by Markellos Chryssicos, this striking record offers incandescent and special performances of Italian baroque masterpieces that feature among the most heart-rending.

contents:

1 - Johann Hieronymous Kapsberger - Toccata seconda arpeggiata 

Luigi Rossi - Toccata Seconda Arpeggiata

2 - Giacomo Carissimi - Lamento In Morte Di Maria Stuarda

3 - Barbara Strozzi - Lagrime Mie

4 - Claudio Monteverdi - Lamento D'Arianna

Girolamo Frescobaldi - Capriccio IX Di Durezze, 

5 - Francesco Provenzale - Squarciato Appena Avea

Romina Basso, Mezzo-soprano

Latinitas Nostra

dir. Markellos Chryssicos

Michel Corrette - Les delices de la solitude

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Les délices de la solitude (The Delights of Solitude) is a group of six sonatas published for the first time around 1739. It was republished in 1766 in a version exclusively for cello. In this collection, Corrette clearly demonstrates his diverse and robust talent.

contents:

Sonate VI En Re Majeur

Sonate II En Re Mineur

Sonate IV En Si Bemol Majeur

Sonate III En Ut Majeur

Sonate I En Fa Majeur

Sonate V En Sol Majeur

Aria Lachrimæ

Philippe Foulon, viole d'Orphée

Jean-Claude Lavoignat, basson baroque

Philippe Le Corf, violone

Willian Water, guitare baroque & théorbe

Emer Buckley, clavecin & orgue

Sol nascente. Italienische Koloratur-Arien

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The debut release of coloratura soprano, Charlotte Schäfer accompanied by the Düsseldorfer Hofmusik led by Michael Preiser in a collection that focuses on the bravura arias written in the period between the Baroque and early Classical eras. With many of these arias being released for the first time, Schäfers sublime performance invites us to consider the prescience of the young Mozart with Sol Nascente meaning rising sun written at the advent of the new Classical era. 

contents:

Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774)

Tu di saper procura, from L'Olympiade

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

O temerario Arbace, KV79

A Berenice KV70

Sol Nascente KV70

Tommaso Traetta (1727-1779)

Io non Cerco, from Armida

Parto ma lascio o Dio, from Armida

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Al destin che la minaccia, from  Mitridate KV87

Giuseppe Sarti (1729-1802)

Non ha ragione ingrato, from Didone abbandonata

Niccolò Vito Piccini (1728 - 1800)

Furia di donna irata, from La Cecchina

Charlotte Schäfer, Sopran

Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik

dir. Michael Preiser

Spielleyt - Tempus Fugit

17 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 123 Mb

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This programme focuses on the subject of becoming and fading, love, everyday life and death from the point of view of men in the late middle ages. Following the cycle of the seasons, an atmosphere of happiness and melancholy dominates the compositions which range from the boisterous spring song to the gloomy Geisslerlied.

Not only the music, but also the recitations of contemporary letters, read by Klaus Hemmerle (actor at the National Theatre Stuttgart), reflect the life awareness of people living at the transition to the Renaissance.

contents:

1. Vil lieber grüsse süsse, K 68 by Oswald von Wolkenstein 

2. Quan je voy le duc by Anonymous 

3. Par maintes foys by Jehan Vaillant 

4. En biancha vesta (14th century) by Anonymous 

5. Frölich geschrai so well wir machen, K 93 by Oswald von Wolkenstein 

6. Ghaetta, istampita for ensemble by Anonymous 

7. Rodrigo Martinez, villancico by Anonymous 

8. Salterello I (14th century) by Anonymous 

9. Fro welt ir sint gar hüpsch und schön by Burk Mangolt 

10. Apposte Messe by Lorenzo da Firenze 

11. Adieu ces bon vins de Lannoys by Guillaume Dufay 

12. Der Wallt hat sich entlaubet (The trees are now bare) by Anonymous 

13. Nu tret herzuo der boessen welle (Lied der Geißler) by Anonymous 

14. Verbum caro factum est: Dies est leticie (14th century) Traditional 

15. Ave mater, o Maria, K 116 by Oswald von Wolkenstein 

16. Passacalli della vita ("Homo fugit velut umbra") by Anonymous 

17. Third and Last Booke of Songes or Aires: no 2, Time stands still by John Dowland 

Spielleyt

Early Music Freiburg

Restored

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Tomaso Albinoni - Le 6 Sonate ritrovate

25 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 95 Mb

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contents:

Sonata n°1 in A minor (spurious)

Sonata n°2 in F major (spurious)

Sonata n°3 in C major (spurious)

Sonata n°4 in G major (spurious)

Sonata n°5 in F major (spurious)

Sonata n°6 in F major (spurious)

Claudio Ferrarini, flauto

Francesco Tasini, clavicembalo

Claudio Piastra, chitarra

O dulcis amor - La Villanella Basel

16 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 100 Mb

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For the first time in history, the 17th century opened up a vast area of musical activities for female artists as the Renaissance philosophy had established a new place for women in society. In his Il libro del Cortegiano (1528), Baldassare Castiglione presented them as gracious and beautiful, equally cultured in literature as men, as well as educated in dance and music, accomplished in conversational skills, intelligent and entertaining. Life at the courts provided for the donne di palazzo a veritable opportunity to liberate themselves. The new role that was bestowed on women might even have added to the growing sophistication of lifestyle in the 16th century, which was greatly articulated in the promotion of the arts and in the implicit prescriptions for social behaviour. Erasmus revered in his Encomium matrimonii (1518) the blissful union of husband and wife, and the general trend of Neo-Platonism led to a new interest in women, which greatly surpassed their thus far expected role as child bearers to continue the family name, and their rigid position in domestic life. However, only the higher classes in society enjoyed these privileges. Christian tradition was deeply anchored in the common perception of women as unfaithful seductresses, foolish and impetuous. Consequently, women remained the subject of much ridicule and scepticism. The imposing voice of Vespasiano da Bisticci is effortlessly recalled, instructing women to live by the two chief commandments of the apostle Paul: to raise their children as devoted Christians and to keep silent at church. The status from which certain women benefited at the end of the Renaissance was in many ways a compromise between the conservative Christian tradition, strengthened by the Council of Trento (1545-1563), and the humanist objective of equality between male and female.

Excellent performance, both vocal and instrumental. O dulcis amor is a well-balanced compilation of cloistered (Vittoria Aleotti, Caterina Assandra, Isabella Leonarda) and independent (Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi) composers from the 16th and early 17th century, of sacred and secular music, and of vocal and instrumental pieces. Highly recommended.

contents:

1. Caterina Assandra: Impleos nostrum

2. Caterina Assandra: Ave verum corpus

3. Caterina Assandra: Haec dies

4. Caterina Assandra: Ego flos campi

5. Caterina Assandra: O dulcis amor Iesu

6. Vittoria Aleotti: Hor che la vaga Aurora

7. Vittoria Aleotti: Cor mio perche pur piangi

8. Vittoria Aleotti: Mentre lardite labbia

9. Francesca Caccini: Per la piu vaga e bella

10. Francesca Caccini: Lasciatemi qui solo

11. Barbara Strozzi: Lamante bugiardo

12. Barbara Strozzi: Amor dormiglione

13. Barbara Strozzi: Sete pur fastidioso

14. Barbara Strozzi: Leraclito amoroso

15. Isabella Leonarda: Sonata duodecima

16. Isabella Leonarda: Iam diu dilecte mi Iesu

La Villanella Basel

Heike Pichler-Trosits, soprano

Claudia Nauheim, recorder

Irene Klein, viola da gamba

Mechthild Winter, virginal, organ

Petra Burmann, theorbo