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... |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Christmas Oratorio (Weihnachts Oratorium) Werner Gura, Klaus Hager, Dorothea Roschmann, Andreas Scholl / Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD Box Set - released 14/Feb/2006 ] "A handsome package matched by a lively interpretation" (BBC Music) |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Christmas Oratorio (Weihnachts Oratorium) Werner Gura, Klaus Hager, Dorothea Roschmann, Andreas Scholl / Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD Box Set - released 14/Feb/2006 ] "A handsome package matched by a lively interpretation...Superb, richly detailed performances set in a sumptuous acoustic." (BBC Music Magazine, October 2005, ****/*****) |
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 |