LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4 & 8 (with Mehul: Symphony No. 1 & Cherubini: Lodoiska Overture) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 9/Sep/2022 ] The least famous of Beethoven's symphonies? Yet these two works are genuine tours de force: the composer takes the listener on a journey whose destination never seems to be known in advance, one brimming over with structural innovations subtly... |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Coronation anthems Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin, Justin Doyle [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Apr/2023 ] In 1727, having just become a naturalised British subject, Handel was commissioned to write a set of anthems for the coronation of George II. Since he could hardly have expected ever to see a more majestic occasion, the composer took full advantage... |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach, (J.S.): Violin Concertos / Sinfonias / Overture / Sonatas Isabelle Faust (violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 15/Mar/2019 ] "Faust's tone is both lean and exquisitely sweet, combined with consistent stylistic elegance which reaches the heights of eloquence in the slow movement of the E major Concerto." BBC Music Concerto Choice June 2019 |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/Apr/2020 ] Perfect Synthesis. Bach's exploration of the Italian concerto grosso took the principles of instrumental 'rivalry' to the point of paroxysm, bringing to the form an unprecedented harmonic and contrapuntal refinement. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2 (with CPE Bach: Symphonies Wq 175 & 183/4) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Jul/2020 ] BBC Music Award Nomination 2021 - Orchestral |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Gran Partita - Wind Serenades K. 361 & 375 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] "For those wanting the music played on the kinds of instruments that Mozart himself knew, this beautifully recorded new version sweeps the field." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2021 |
J.S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Triple Concerto BWV1044; Harpsichord Cto. BWV 1052 Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] "the gestures bold and the virtuosity glittering." - International Record Review |
ANTONIO VIVALDI / JEAN-FERY REBEL
Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] / Rebel: Les Eléments Midori Seiler (solo violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "..[Midori Seiler] and the Berliners have simply insisted on taking nothing for granted...the sheer flair of this new release dazzles as much as it delights." BBC Music |
VIVALDI / GABRIELI / PORTA / MARCELLO / etc
A Venetian Journey Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, with Xenia Löffler (baroque oboe) - Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti - Concerto Palatino [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD - released 18/Jan/2019 ] From the late Renaissance until the middle of the eighteenth century, Venice was the scene of unrivalled musical splendour, encompassing the magnificent ceremonial music heard at Saint Mark's Basilica and the virtuoso music-making at the charitable... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti grossi: Op. 6 (7-12) Akademie fϋr Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Pentatone / CD - released 14/Feb/2020 ] The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin continue their Handel trilogy with this recording of the last six concerti grossi of the composer's Op. 6. Originally designed as attractive interludes to English oratorio performances, Handel's concerti grossi soon... |
PAUL WRANITZKY
Wranitzky: Symphonies Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2022 ] Bernhard Forck leads Akamus in a spirited showcase of the Moravian-born composer's gifts as an orchestrator, featuring the overture to Oberon, the 'Grande Symphonie caractéristique pour la Paix avec la République francaise', and the 'Tempest' Symphony. |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Marie Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Justin Doyle - RIAS Kamerchor [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 15/Nov/2019 ] "Altogether, there is much to discover in this little-known work, and the conductor Justin Doyle with his talented team of soloists and the RIAS Chamber Choice and Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik do it proud. Recommended." BBC Music Five Stars |
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: Griselda Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2019 ] Scarlatti's Griselda, premiered in Rome in 1721, received a single performance at the Teatro Capranica, and was never taken into the repertoire elsewhere, both for financial reasons and because of the changing tastes of the time. The tragic story of... |
J.S. BACH
Bach: Mass In B Minor Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Sep/2022 ] A composition as brilliant as it is protean - the earliest sections date back to 1724, others were written in 1733 in the hope of obtaining a post in Dresden - the Mass in B minor occupied Bach until the end of his life. The work, which is more... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti Grossi: Op. 6 (1-6) The Akademie für Alte Musik, Bernhard Forck [ Pentatone / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin kickstarts their Handel trilogy with this recording of the first six concerti grossi op. 6. Originally designed as attractive interludes to English oratorio performances, Handel's concerti grossi soon gained fame as... |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Ombra mai fu Andreas Scholl, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Oct/2023 ] "...a towering success. Handel singing just doesn't get much better than this...this recital is a winner." Andrew Clarke The Scotsman |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Che Puro Ciel - The Rise of Classical Opera Bejun Mehta (counter-tenor) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Dec/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gluck: Italian Arias Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin [ Decca / CD - released 10/Aug/2010 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2002 - Recital |
Ensemble Fur Neue Musik Zurich
Women Composers I [ HatHut Records / CD - released 2/Dec/2016 ] If only Fanny Mendelssohn or Clara Schumann had been fortunate enough to have a group like the Ensemble Für Neue Musik Zürich (ENMZ) from Switzerland champion their works! While the days when women composers hovered in the shadow of their male... |
BACH FAMILY / BEETHOVEN / HAYDN / GLUCK / MONN / TELEMANN / VIVALDI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Lumieres: The Unprecedented Expansion of Music in the Age of Enlightenment [30 CD set] Paul Lewis (piano) / Tokyo String Quartet / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / English Concert / etc [ Harmonia Mundi / 30 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2011 ] "Harmonia Mundi have somehow contrived to telescope that most industriously inventive of musical centuries into this 30CD set, by dint of ingenious thematic programming which apportions discs to different modes...it's an indisputable bargain... |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail / Die Zauberflöte René Jacobs, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Mar/2023 ] The alpha and omega of Mozart! With Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), probably his first absolute masterpiece, and Die Zauberflöte (1791 - the year of his death), René Jacobs penetrates to the heart of Mozartian singspiel. Featuring singers, a... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Motets RIAS-Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] BBC Radio 3: Building a Library Highly Recommended - June 2005 |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Septem verba a Christo (in cruce moriente prolata) Sophie Karthäuser, Christophe Dumaux, Julien Behr, Konstantin Wolff / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 10/Feb/2013 ] "this hybrid cycle of seven early-18th-century cantatas based on the Seven Last Words is deeply impressive...The mood ranges wide, from fiery, coloratura-laden anger to a touching lyricism." Sunday Times |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach: Dialogue Cantatas for soprano & bass Sophie Karthäuser (soprano), Michael Volle (bass), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & RIAS Kammerchor [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/May/2018 ] "The Akademie orchestra and the RIAS Kammerchor round off a fine well-balanced recording. Highly recommended." Nicholas Butler/Marbecks |
BROSCHI / GALUPPI / GIACOMELI / HASSE / PORPORA
Arias for Farinelli Vivica Genaux (mezzo-soprano) / Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] "While Vivica Genaux has all the virtupsity needed to negotiate the intricately embellished lines in these songs, she knows, too, how to use ornamentation for expressive effect. Strongly recommended." ***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music... |
New Musik
Anywhere (Gatefold Blue Marbled Coloured 2LP) [ Music On Vinyl / 2 LP - released 22/Apr/2022 ] The English synthpop, new wave group formed in 1977 in London and was led by Tony Mansfield, who later worked as a producer for furthermore Naked Eyes, a-ha and the B-52's. Their success already kicked off with the first single, "Straight Lines"... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Troubadours, Trouveres, Minstrels Studio der Frühen Musik, Thomas Binkley [ Warner Classics Das Alte Werk / 2 CD - released 5/May/2008 ] "The Studio's cult mezzo Andrea von Ramm and lutenist-director Binkley still chill the blood in the lament of a pilgrim captured by Saracens, just one highlight of this classic, bold imaginative survey." (BBC Music Five Stars) |
MUSIC FROM THE MIDDLE AGES
Music from the Middle Ages [5 CD set] Andrea von Ramm, Richard Levitt & Sterling Jones / Studio der fruhen Musik, Thomas Binkley [ Virgin / Warner Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2011 ] |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Venice and Beyond. Concerti da Camera & Sonate Concertate for Woodwind Instruments Affinità Ensemble fur Alte Musik; Elisabeth Baumer [ Arcana / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] Venice ca. 1700: having recently arrived from France, the instruments à la mode - the oboe, bassoon, baroque recorder, and flûte traversière - go on to conquer the musical centers of the Serenissima. The versatility of these new woodwinds inspires... |
TELEMANN
Orchestral Suites Akadamie Fur Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] "This set can hardly fail to entertain. That is first and foremost the merit of the composer who apparently had a sharp eye for his environment and the idiosyncrasies and weaknesses of human beings." (MusicWeb Aug 2013) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti Grossi Op.3 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Pentatone / CD - released 14/Aug/2020 ] The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin complete their Handel trilogy with this recording of the Op. 3 concerti grossi. Even if this selection of concertos was most likely compiled by Handel's publisher rather than by the composer himself, the overall... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Adagios & Fugues [after JS Bach] Fugue arrangements for strings Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] "The Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin are radiant in this recording … this is glorious music beautifully played; a fascinating collection." Early Music Today |
J.S. BACH
Orchestral Suites Nos. 2 & 4 Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] ***** Five Star recording Penguin Stereo Guide |
TELEMANN
Suites 'La Bizarre' Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 24/Aug/2002 ] Gramophone Award Nomination 2002 - Baroque instrumental |
TELEMANN
Suites & Overtures Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] "...superb...The growing band of Telemaniacs need not hesitate." - The Sunday Times |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / JUSTIN Heinrich KNECHT
Beethoven: Symphony no.6 "Pastoraleˮ / Knecht: Symphonie "Le Portrait musical de la Natureˮ Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] ""Freshness and vitality are the two words which spring to mind. Concertmaster Bernhard Forck pushes the work along with a driving impetuosity which has all the burgeoning energy of springtime." MusicWeb Recommended |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Double Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Georg Kallweit [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin transports us to the Venice of the 'red-haired priest'. "Simple excellence leading to simple enjoyment, and a composer's unique creative spark vividly expressed." Gramophone |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Sep/2021 ] Johann Sebastian Bach and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin go back a long way together! This recording, made with the welcome participation of Isabelle Faust and Antoine Tamestit, follows the complete violin concertos (2019), which left a lasting... |
BONPORTI / CALDARA / COLISTA / LONATI / STRADELLA / etc
Solo & Trio Sonatas & Chamber Concertos Alte Musik Köln [ Myrios / CD - released 14/Jan/2013 ] A collection of works by composers that all spent time in Rome during the 17th Century. Featuring many pieces that have been rediscovered and are World Premier Recordings. Composers include Bonporti, Caldara, Stradella, Ravenscroft and Manelli. This... |
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
Telemann: Miriways (complete opera recorded in 2017) André Morsch, Robin Johannsen, Sophie Karthäuser / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernard Labadie [ Pentatone / 2 CD - released 8/May/2020 ] PENTATONE presents Telemann's rarely-performed opera Miriways (1728) with a stellar cast and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin conducted by Bernard Labadie. Star vocalists such as André Morsch (Miriways), Robin Johannsen (Sophi), Sophie Karthäuser... |