‘Ayres for the Theatre is a wonderful collection of rich and varied, tuneful music and has been marvellously well recorded’ (Gramophone)
Tracklista:1. Allegro Assai2. Largo E Sostenuto3. Presto4. Allegro Assai5. III. Larghetto6. Allegro7. Allegro Di Molto8. Poco Adagio9. Allegretto10. Second Movement - Embellished Version11. Second Movement - Embellished Version12. Second Movement - Embellished Version13. Allegro Moderato14. Andante15. Allegro16. Third Movement - Varied Version
‘Ayres for the Theatre is a wonderful collection of rich and varied, tuneful music and has been marvellously well recorded’ (Gramophone)
'As refreshing a package of out-of-the-way Vivaldi as has recently come my way' (The Magic Flute, USA) 'Captivating pieces whose melodic charm, fine craftsmanship and varied tonal palette make them rewarding both to play and hear' (BBC Music Magazine)
The Cantigas de Santa María are a group of more than 400 monophonic songs composed in Spain in the 1270s and 1280s at the court of King Alfonso X "El sabio" (The Wise) and often attributed to him. Wise he was indeed. A candidate for cloning, in fact -- Spanish culture under his reign successfully integrated Islamic, Jewish, and Christian elements. The Cantigas have come down to us as melodies, and artwork of the day gives us an idea of the mix of instruments that might have been used.This set of 21 Cantigas on two discs makes a convincing, integrated presentation, introducing the issues surrounding these works while providing the more casual listener with an attractive and varied group of medieval songs. The Cantigas chosen deal with episodes in the life of Mary, and it is easy to imagine that they might have been excerpted from the larger group even in their own time. Some tracks contain spoken narrative. The instrumentation chosen by Musica Antigua and its director Eduardo Paniagua emphasizes Arabic elements -- the darbuga (or darabouka) hand drum, Arab lutes, and the viols that represent European music's most direct link to the Arab world. The melodies are traded off between solo singers and small groups, and each song is given a setting appropriate to its text. "We recommend that you read the texts of these Cantigas tranquilly while listening to the music," say the liner notes. Good idea, but the only translation from medieval Spanish provided is into modern Spanish. Detailed summaries of each piece are given in English and French, however, and anyone with a smattering of Spanish will get the general idea if not all of the detail that gives the Cantigas their flavor. The album is well recorded, with carefully differentiated microphone treatment of the various blaring reeds, quiet lutes, and whispering flutes in this nicely varied recording.
2011/12 sees the 400th anniversary of the birth of one of the most important masters of the early German Baroque. Hammerschmidt‘s vocal works are known to the wider public today throught just a few pieces such as ‚Machet die Tore weit‘ and ‚Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt‘. His output encompasses a wide range of musical forms: concertos and cantats, motets and instrumental pieces, as well as ‚secular‘ vocal works on the most varied scorings.This CD is the fi rst of two releases from CARUS with ensemble Gli Scarlattisti which present Andreas Hammerschmidt‘s vocal works in a thematic and theologically-liturgically arranged sequence, and each work is juxtaposed with composition to a Latin text by his contemporary Johann Rosenmüller.
During his lifetime, Georg Philipp Telemann was widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the period – perhaps the greatest of them all, not forgetting J.S. Bach or Handel. But the very aspects that his contemporaries admired were the same that later critics would find questionable: his extensive and varied œuvre, the fluency with which he wrote in all genres and styles, and his manifestly modern, cosmopolitan outlook. Compared with Bach’s more compact, serious music, Telemann’s elegant, sophisticated style was judged to be lacking, and this unfavourable comparison has followed Telemann ever since. The truth is that, despite the size of his œuvre, Telemann rarely repeats himself; in spite of the ease with which he adopted new styles and idioms, he is far from superficial. On the contrary, his music is varied, innovative and diverse, while at the same time possessing an immediacy and intimacy that are second to none. All of this great range and variety is represented in his works for the flute. Telemann wrote for the recorder as well as for the transverse flute that was more in favour in France, but the music was intended for either instrument. The greater part of that music – from solo fantasias and duets to concertos and double concertos – has been gathered in this boxed set, in highly praised recordings by two acclaimed Swedish recorder players: Clas Pehrsson and Dan Laurin. They are supported by continuo players in the chamber music, and by the eminent Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble in the concertos, and matched by soloists such as the acclaimed baroque bassoonist Michael McCraw, but there is never any doubt that the star of this collection is the recorder itself – and, of course, Telemann!