C. P. E. Bach: Concerti per il Cembalo

“Between the energetic tutti and the soft passages an exciting range is revealed without having to sacrifice a cultivated sound and tonal beauty. Rather, the string ensemble is unified, without sounding stiff, and in the slow movements … it is capable of playing in soft, if restrained song.”

Händel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato : Oratorium in drei Teilen

The two John Milton poems, L'Allegro [cheerfulness], and Il Pensi eroso [melancholy], describe the differences between these two moods. Charles Jennens fashioned a libretto from these texts, adding a third part entitled Moderato [moderation]. From the first performance the oratorio was already a great success, a success which continued in later years. This edition is a revised reprint of Friedrich Chrysander's edition. The vocal score and the German singing text are by Helmut Bornefeld.

Respighi: Lauda per la Natività del Signore

In 1930 Ottorino Respighi composed his Lauda per la Nativit del ­Signore, the only sacred choral work among his entire opus. In this hymn of praise to the miracle of Christmas, majestic sounding choral passages alternate with the soloistic roles of Maria, the Angel and the shepherd, accompanied by the sound of pastoral instruments. The music is varied, containing stylistic elements ranging from the late romantic to neo baroque, as well as echoes of Gregorian chant. In this recording by the Rundfunkchor Berlin, under the direction of Nicolas Fink and Maris Sirmais, Respighi’s composition is presented together with beautiful Christmas pieces by Poulenc, Sandström, Kaminskyand Raphael. Like Respighi, in their compositions they employed various techniques and harmonies from previous musical eras.

Octo toni ecclesiastici per Organo

Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant

Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant

Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant

Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant

Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant

Puccini: Canti per voce e pianoforte

The present collection of 16 smaller vocal compositions is doubly a novelty: On the one hand, among these are three works presented here which were either lost for more than a century [Dios y Patria], or they were never published in their definitive form [Salve Regina and Ad una morta!]. On the other hand, they appear here in the first critical edition of these vocal works ever published; through the consistent consultation of the original sources numerous false readings which had been handed down over the years could be corrected.

Il Carnevale. Chor- und Ensemblemusik : Carus Classics

On the occasion of its 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. The present recording presents examples of Rossini’s compositional versatility with choral fugues and a cappella works for double choir ranging from religious works via funeral music to drinking songs. “CD with a first-class interpretation.” Fono Forum, June 1993

Peyer: Preambuli e Fughe per Organo Teil I

Peyer: Preambuli e Fughe per Organo Teil II

La Grandezza della Musica Imperiale : Composizioni per orchestra

Johann Josef Fux, who was highly respected and the longtime Music Director of the Viennese Imperial Court, is gradually being rediscovered. This recording presents little-known works from Fux's instrumental opus. The focus of this recording are the stylized baroque dances: movements of the suite in which all the virtuoso possibilities of solo and tutti playing in the manner of Italian gusto are relished and explored. An especial charm lies in the pictorial-programmatic works, as in the bird call imitations in the Ouverture in d Minor, or the serenade-like concerto entitled "gentleness and bitterness of the night" music full of surprises and contrasts.

Quintetti d'archi e Partite per due liuti [FBO]

” … a very beautiful, very refined ensemble playing, a rhythmically pointed, structurally clear, very expressive recording.“

Finchè Circola Il Vigore : Hob. XXVIII:13 - A Major

Placido È Il Mar, Andiamo : KV 366 - E Major

I Figli d'Italia Bella : Cessato Il Suon dell'Armi - SC 3

I Figli d'Italia Bella : Cessato Il Suon dell'Armi - SC 3

6 Sonate per Violino e Cembalo BWV 1014-1019 : Johannsen

These important works within Bach’s chamber music opus are played by C. Busch and K. Johannsen on period instruments in an extraordinarily lively and finely differentiated style. The slow movements are rendered in an intimate, almost contemplative manner. In doing without the basso continuo Bach divided the three voices of a traditional trio sonata between two instruments by making the harpsichord an equal partner with the violin.

Cleofide -Dramma per musica von Johann Adolf Hasse : Untersuchung der Entstehungsgeschichte

Johann Adolf Hasse [1699 1783] is considered the most successful composer from the middle third of the 18th century. He spent the most important and longest portion of his professional musical career as Music Director at the Dresden Court of Friedrich August II. The fact that Hasse was offered this prestigious position was due to the success of his opera Cleofide, which was performed in Dresden in September 1731 still during the reign of August the Strong with his wife, Faustina [née Bordoni], singing the female lead. In connection with the first edition of Cleofide [Johann Adolf Hasse, Werke, Vol. I/1, Stuttgart, 2008] the editor, Zenon Mojzysz, undertook extensiveresearch of the cultural-historical environment surrounding this opera. With reference to numerous original sources, in the present volume the circumstances which led to the composer’s appointment at the Dresden Court and to the performance there of Cleofide will be brought to light.

Composizioni per pianoforte : Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giacomo Puccini, II/2.2

Christoph Graupner: Fagott- und Violinkonzerte

Today Christoph Graupner is known primarily as a prolific composer of cantatas. The present CD shows that during his long tenure at the Court of Darmstadt he availed himself of other musical genres. Together with Sergio Azzolini and Christian Leitherer the Ensemble il capriccio, which plays on replicas of historical instruments, presents the four bassoon concertos, a double concerto for bassoon and chalumeau, as well as Graupner’s only violin concerto in what are partly world premiere recordings.

Italienische Madrigale, Complete recordings, V. 2

“Heinrich Schütz The complete recording”: In the coming year a recording of the complete works of Heinrich Schütz under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann will be released on the Carus label. Together with the Dresdner Kammerchor and many renowned soloists these works, true to historical performance practice, will be presented. Thanks to a stipend from his patron, the Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel, Schütz was able to pursue a three-year course of study under Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice from 1609 to 1612, which he concluded with the publication in 1611 of the madrigal collection Il Primo libro de Madrigali. Already in this, his Opus primus, Schütz emerged as anoutstanding composer: In their musical quality, the 18 five-part madrigals exceed much that was still composed in the traditional madrigal style at the beginnning of the 17th century. A coproduction with MDR Figaro.