@Germanprof - that's a tough one. I didn't come up with the exact same album on CD in my search, either (unless you want to count this which is cost prohibitive.
The works that are included on your album are:
RV 539 (Concerto for 2 horns in F major)
RV 535 (Concerto for 2 oboes in D minor)
RV 443 (Concerto for piccolo in C major)
RV 574 (concerto for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns & violins in F major)
Although I didn't find a single St. Martin in the Fields CD that contains all four of these works, St. Martin in the Fields recorded them on these CDs:
Amazon has RV 539 here (tracks 4,5,6) and RV 535, RV 443, and 574 here (tracks 4,5,6).
I don't know how easy it is to find these CDs in Germany, but at least this should let you know which CDs to look for. These that I found are more recent recordings, so they will surely sound somewhat different, although by the same ensemble. Better yet, you could do a search for St. Martin in the Field and the RV number and see what comes up for you in Germany.
Thanks, kez! That's *very* helpful. Yes, $64 is a little high for nostalgia, but I'll check out the others. Do you happen to know whether anyone else other that SMitF has made recordings of these works that might be good?
(I'm actually in Michigan at present, British by origin. The German piece connects with my job, not my location or nationality. I chose it as an emusic password years and years ago because it was easy to remember (I forget many things but not usually my occupation), never thinking it might have a public use or generate specific perceptions. Then I started using the boards over there, then came here and the tag trailed with me).
Well, I wrote a post with a list of deals on Jordi Savall sets at 7digital. I wish I knew what happened to the post, but I haven't the energy to do it again. Needless to say, many of the "double" and "triple" albums are $8.99.
@Germanprof - Ah, so you're not German! Sorry for the mistake. I deduced that from exactly the scenario you described. I have a lot of Vivaldi recordings - none of which are SMitF. I'll look through them and if I find these recordings by other artists I have, I'll let you know. (I surely must have all of them on one disk or another.)
@Bad Thoughts - Thanks for the comment about Jordi Savall on 7digital. Your list of deals would have come in handy, but I sure understand not having the energy to do it over! I'll definitely be checking that out.
@Germanprof - well, it seems like the 4 concertos that's on your old vinyl are a complete bust for being included on any of my Vivaldi CDs (and I have a whole lot of them!). I think the reason must be because they are concertos for woodwinds & horns, and I mainly concentrate on the string concertos. While I can't 100% recommend any of the alternate recordings below since I haven't heard them, they would be my choice based solely on the group performing them, which all play period instruments. I'm not sure about SMitF, but I think they play on modern instruments(?). Each produces a different sound, so the CDs below may or may not appeal to you.
RV 539: Vivaldi Concerti by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Amazon doesn't have sound samples. Not sure if emusic has it or not. EDIT// Oh, I just now saw this album was an "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone. See here fpr info and sound samples. I would be surprised if this is not a real gem. The sample of RV 539 sounds GREAT! I will have to get this one, for sure. (By the way, this CD also includes RV 540, which is one of the most beautiful Vivaldi compositions ever - it's a concerto for lute and viola d'amore.)
RV 535: Vivaldi Eleven Concertos by Tafelmusik.
I've been noticing this one for a while with interest, but hadn't checked it out yet. I really like the sound of the samples and will be one I will buy at some point, for sure. I believe I have other recordings of all the selections on the tracklist except RV 535. Of all the others I recognized, Tafelmusik does a nice job with them, IMO. I have quite a few CDs by the Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik and I like them a lot. "Eleven Concertos" was named by the Italian Premio Internazionale del Disco Antonio organization as "Best Vivaldi Recording of the Year" for 1997.
RV 443: I was surprised to find that I do have this piccolo concerto on one of my CDs, but it is a little bit off the subject. It is included on the tracklist of the most delightful children's classical music CD produced by Classical Kids that combines classical music with storytelling. It really is very enjoyable even for adults. The CD is called Daydreams and Lullabyes. (As a matter of fact, ALL the Classical Kids CDs are excellent - strange as it sounds, the Classical Kids CD "Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery" is what got me hooked on baroque music in the first place. Before that, I thought I hated baroque/classical music! But that CD changed my viewpoint and now I can't imagine being without my baroque music. It fills a need for me that no other kind of music can do.)
RV 574: This one is on the album Vivaldi: I Concerto di Dresda by Freiburger Baroque Orchestra. I love this ensemble. I'm pretty sure this album is on emusic but I couldn't find it (it's hard for me since I have to go in the back door to look up anything on emusic now that I'm not a member - and emusic's search mode is not easy, anyway - especially so with all the Naive recordings, which they've moved all around.)
Graupner: Bassoon and Violin Concertos by Ensemble Il Capriccio emusic link
Sergio Azzolini ... makes his instrument speak and sing, cry and cheer, and ... masters the full tessitura and dynamic range of his instrument with impressive ease. .. The ensemble plays brilliantly, with strong accents on heavy beats, and with a great rhythmic drive. You may find it hard to sit still while listening. In short, this is a wonderful disc which brings the unique qualities of Graupner's music to the fore. It once again proves that Graupner is one of the great masters of the German baroque. (Johan van Veen, musicweb international, April 2011)
I have seen several "best of 2010" lists with this CD included, but looked right over it until 1653 mentioned it on the emusic messageboard. After that, I downloaded it based on his recommendation and it's a great CD. I especially like the violin concerto (tracks 8-10), which is the only concerto for violin that Graupner composed.
Thank you, 1653 (if you ever see this!) - wish he'd come over here to emusers.
Hello and what a great thread! Is great to read all your comments! I have a question on a composer who is new to me: Michele Mascitti. Do any of you have works by him and do you have any guidance on which albums are best? I have found several on Amazon, but many do not have samples.
I've never heard of the composer Michele Mascitti. However - I was surprised to find that I have a work of his and didn't even realize it! It's track 10-19 of Fabio Biondi's Italian Violin Sonatas (Amazon link). Now I'm going to have go back and listen to it again and see what it sounds like!
Never heard of Mascitti either, and there is nothing in my collection between Mascagni and Maslanka.
From the New Grove:
(b S Maria, nr. Naples, 1663 or 1664; d Paris, 24 April 1760)
...Having travelled through Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, he settled in Paris in 1704. He soon attracted the attention of the Duke of Orleans and through him gained the opportunity to play before the king, the dauphin and the whole court. Mascitti became a figurehead of Italian instrumental music in France and was regarded as the peer of Corelli and Albinoni. Possessing the advantage over his fellow-nationals of residence in Paris, where all nine of his published collections were first issued between 1704 and 1738, Mascitti enjoyed enormous popularity with the French public, to whom he was affectionately known by his first name Michele in various gallicized forms...
Mascitti's published works offer a competent reproduction of Corelli's style lightly retouched to conform to French taste...
On a different subject, I happened to come across THIS while surfing the net - "Holidays with Music: Good Music, Interesting Places". Now that's my idea of a vacation!
A few days ago 1653 posted a message on the emusic baroque music thread about this newly added CD from Zig Zag. I'm not familiar with Gli Incogniti but am curious about this CD. Unfortunately, my home PC for some unknown reason will not play sound clips at the moment, so I can't hear what it sounds like. In his emusic post, 1653 said "I always thought that Bach was more a mathematician than a composer. This album changed this impression. Even here in Germany some think that this album may serve as a benchmark for these works."
Mommio - would you mind asking 1653 how it compares to these 3 CDs? I can't imagine the Zig Zag recording is better than any of these. (And while you're at it, could you ask him to come over here to emusers?).
In his emusic post, 1653 said "I always thought that Bach was more a mathematician than a composer.
I can see why he writes this about Bach, who is almost a proto-minimalist. After spending the last year and a half, on and off, learning parts of the Cello Suits, arpeggios and diatonic runs make up much of his composition. However, his genius really was in abolishing the distinction between melody and accompaniment. He found melodic elements in the otherwise mundane elements of accompaniment and elevated them. Indeed, many of his works could stand on their own played by a single monophonic instrument without sounding weak or without backing.
The idea of reconstituting violin concertos that Bach supposedly transcribed as the harpsichord concertos that have come down to us may hardly be a new one, but Amandine Beyer brings to these restorations an energetic enthusiasm that converts what could be dreary counterpoint into pure effervescence. Her notes to the collection explain her rationale, referring to the existence of transcriptions of the two violin concertos (in A Minor and E Major), to Bachs practice of adapting his own works for other instruments, and to the highly violinistic solo parts of the harpsichord concertos, the one in G Minor (which, she says, requires virtually no modification and the one in D Minor, which she has reworked using numerous sourcesin her notes she gives the D-Minor Concerto as BWV 1056 and the G Minor Concerto as BWV 1052, a numeration which appears in both the French and English versions). Szigeti and Perlman have played the Concerto in G Minor, and Monica Huggett played all four with Sonnerie on Gaudeamus 356, 30:6. But, as Beyer points out, artistic decisions remain, and the process still involves some reconceptualization.
The Concerto in D Minor makes considerable violinistic demands, appearing almost as a virtuoso work, with swirling figuration in the outer movements, more in the manner of the violin part in the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto than that of the familiar violin concertos in A Minor and E Major. Beyer sounds brilliant, emerging from her small ensemble more by virtue of her virtuosity than of any greater tonal projection (she addresses the problems of balance in these chamber concertos in her notes). The Concerto in G Minor, on the other hand, seems closer to the canonical ones in its demands. If Beyer seems to take the first movement deliberately, shes quicker than Huggett; her cantilena in the second pours slowly, like honey, over a pizzicato accompaniment in the slow movement; while the third movement returns to the contrapuntal bustle she set in motion in the D-Minor Concerto. Articulated thumping garnishes this movement with unexpected wit.
Of the two traditional concertos, the E Major receives similar treatment: the first movement chugs with the energy of a highballing steam engine, though with considerably more nuance than the metaphor (or the limited dynamic markings might suggest). The energy and nuance convert passages that might have sounded like a sewing machine with blinders in a performance by even so enlightened a violinist as David Oistrakh into a celebratory dance. The smaller forces allow for a dialogue in the middle section between more equal tonal forces than that allowed by the frequently encountered single violinist conversing with a large string body supported discretely by a harpsichord. If the slow movement adapts less wellto become, in fact, less searchingto this more intimate setting, that may be due in part to the rather quick tempo Beyer and the ensemble have chosen. The finale returns to the playful, lambent alertness of the opening movement. The A-Minor Concerto enjoys the same invigorating treatment that soloist and ensemble accorded to the one in E Major. Unfortunately, what seem like muddy rhythmic passages disturb the exuberant dynamic arches at the center of the first movement; the second movement, with a ground bass like that of the E-Major Concerto, integrates perhaps better into this less ponderous musical ethos.
The engineers seem to have understood the musical philosophy that Beyer adumbrates in the notes and create a coherent musical impression from the performances themselves and from the sounds of the instruments, most of them made no more than a dozen years ago, which, though transparent in sound and crisp in articulation, never wheeze or grow acidulous. Strongly recommended. Robert Maxham
OK - a challenge to all you Baroque fans. Give me two albums that I can download in the UK from emusic (so no majors, please) that will convert me. If there are not many tracks on the albums you can go to three! (We are still on track pricing here)
You probably are already familiar with the Bach and Handels, so I might recommend you test drive one of these:
Compositions for solo viola da gamba written by a a British mercenary. This might excite the folk side of your brain. From AllMusic:
Jordi Savall's long-awaited follow-up to his 1982 recording of 13 pieces from Tobias Hume: Musicall Humors is this 2004 recording of 20-piece from Tobias Hume: Musicall Humors. The former disc was one of the most beautiful, most stirring, most elegant, most touching, and most frightening of all Savall's gamba discs, and the latter disc is not only as good as the former disc, it contains and even exceeds the former disc. That is because all but two of the pieces on the former disc appear again on the latter disc newly recorded and the latter disc adds nine newly recorded pieces. Of course, Death is still here, as is Life, Love's Farewell, My hope is decayed, Touche me lightly, A Souldiers Galliard, A Souldiers Resolution, and the inevitable Good againe, but added are A humorous Pavin, A Question, An Answer, The New Cut, and The Spirit of Gambo, a droll hymn to his own chosen instrument. In 1982 Savall was the prince of gambists and in the passage of 22 years, he has become its king. His tone is full, warm, and subtle. His technique is beyond reproach. His interpretations are as one with the music, but while expressing Hume's musical humors, it also expresses Savall's own musical personality. The result is that the latter disc is as enormously attractive as the former disc, but with the advantage of being 20 minutes longer. Alla vox's digital sound puts Savall in the same room with you.
Setting of Psalms for choir. Schütz is reputed as a transitional figure to the Baroque style. From Opera News:
In his lifetime, Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) went from being hailed as "the father of modern music" to accepting the disinterested respect due an alienated and antiquated old master. Schütz, the Kapellmesister at Dresden for the bulk of his working years, primarily wrote sacred music, but he lost ground when the line between sacred and secular music began to blur in the late-seventeenth century, a development eagerly embraced by the younger generation of German composers.
Schütz's last work, Opus Ultimum, (also known as his Schwanengesang) comprises settings of Psalm 119, Psalm 100 and the German Magnificat. To the end, Schütz held firm to the relatively austere and reverential style he felt best served the church. What relieves his music from didactic tedium is the influence of Gabrieli and Monteverdi, with whom he studied in his youth. In fact, Schütz is notably responsible for introducing the Italian style to Germany, paving the way for Bach, especially the Passion settings.
Psalm 119 is the centerpiece of Opus Ultimum, with 176 verses set as eleven motets for double choir. If the aging Schütz was inspired by the summation quality of this text, which landmarks the verses with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, he also drew on a lifetime's experience of experimenting with the expressive possibilities of a double chorus. The largely modal motets are rife with counterpoint and imitation, off-kilter phrase structure, and dissonances en route to tonal cadences. They also reveal a sensitivity to subtext, as well as text. To pull one example among many, the phrase "denn ihre Trügerei ist eitel Lügen" in "Samech und Aïn: Ich hasse die Flattergeister" is a spirited, contrapuntal evocation not just of the vain illusions of evildoers, but of the attractions of the dark side. Schütz's gentler setting of Psalm 100 ("Jauchzet dem Herren, alle Welt") feels like a cool, liberating waterfall after the magnitude and overall solemnity of Psalm 119.
Philippe Herreweghe leads the Collegium Vocale Gent in a precisely executed performance that perfectly marries the reverent and lively. The singers on each vocal part lean into the dissonances, demonstrating keen awareness of the shifting harmonic fabric of the whole. The balance with the brass, strings and continuo of Concerto Palatino is effectively managed, with a cathedral-style acoustic that, like Schütz's music, is restrained in its vibrancy.
Greg, there are a number of recordings of court music, dance music, Playford, etc., that resemble Celtic. However, they usually have 15+ tracks at least. You also might like early Baroque better-the music uses more plucked strings and percussion.
@Greg - oh boy, where to start? I am always dying for someone who has never listened to baroque to ask for suggestions - but then everytime I am asked my mind goes blank. I guess the safest suggestions would be to suggest CDs that initially attracted me to the genre. I was introduced to baroque music through Vivaldi, followed by Bach. So here's 3 CDs that emusic carries that are exceptional:
Vivaldi: Complete Works for the Italian Lute emusic link
Hear the last 3 tracks in their entirety on Youtube
Vivaldi: La Stravaganza emusic link
Hear a full track on Youtube
Podger's La Stravaganza was one CD I bought shortly after being introduced to baroque music, and it is a standout recording. I read somewhere on the internet at the time I was considering buying it a review by someone who was not a classical music guy, and he absolutely loved it. So it might be a good one to start with. The backing ensemble includes archlute, theorbo and guitar which make for a dynamite sound.
Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos emusic link
Hear a full track on Youtube
This was the first Bach CD I ever listened to. It is also the CD that both my sister and a friend were turned on to baroque music with. You have to listen to Bach uninterrupted all the way through. Pretty soon you start to pick up on all those supporting undercurrents that carry you away. It can be quite overwhelming. I wrote a poem once that was published in a literary journal that described my feelings after listening to Bach. Part of it refers to the music reflecting a perfect order of the universe - a "structured pattern of cosmic tranquility." Another part says:
I float in heavenly realms,
sometimes rising and sometimes descending,
my flight suspended in whirling counterpoints,
and I know I can never fall.
I am cradled in the unchanging mathematics of music
where all is certain, like the rhythm of a mothers
heartbeat assures the infant in her womb.
Well, that's what Bach means to me. Give it a listen and see what you think.
Oh - and whatever you choose to listen to - play it loud. It sounds better that way - even more so with headphones. (IMO).
Scarlatti: Serenata a Filli - Le muse Urania e Clio lodano le bellezze di Filli by Emanuela Galli, La Risonanza/Fabio Bonizzoni emusic link eclassical link - has added benefit of downloadable liner notes
Oh my gosh - I am in h-e-a-v-e-n! This is some of the most gorgeous, sublime music I have heard in a long time. Hats off to the Glossa label for turning out another absolutely stunning recording. This newly released CD consisting of two of Alessandro Scarlatti's serenatas - described as among his 'minor' works - rivals, dare I say, even excels Glossa's superb 7-volume series of Handel's early Roman cantatas! I was drawn to this one on the basis of the greatness of that series, and most especially because it includes the lovely soprano Emanuela Galli. It exceeds even my highest expectations. If you like vocal baroque, this is a MUST HAVE.
The ensemble Pygmalion has recorded some lesser-known works of Bach on 2 CDs. They consist of 4 "mini-masses" which Bach re-wrote from his previous material. These re-writings were poohed-poohed by musicologists at the time Bach's music was being revived from the shadows of obscurity, but today are much appreciated by critics and listeners alike.
This is really scrumptuous music. Two more must-haves for fans of vocal baroque music.
Bach: Missae Breves, BWV 234 & 235 by Pygmalion emusic link
"Only a few minutes into each Kyrie will make you realize that no one has ever been able to compose perfectly balanced, mind boggling counterpoint like Johann Sebastian Bach.
Pygmalion, a newly created ensemble, made up of 20 singers and 19 instrumentalists, were chosen to record these works because of their liveliness, enthusiasm, clarity, and deep understanding of this music. The four vocal soloists, Eugenie Warnier, Magid El-Bushra, Sidney Fierro and Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro, are all very well suited for this music, bringing passion and joy to every part.
Alpha have produced yet another excellent recording. The music jumps out of the speakers with a detailed clarity rarely achieved quite like this. The singing is bold, the playing crisp and nimble, all captured so realistically that you can almost smell the incense inside the church. The recording sessions took place in Paris, in October 2007, and the cd was released in August 2008. Every detail in the production line of a new recording at Alpha is achieved with the utmost attention to quality. If you already have Alpha recordings, you know what I mean. If you don't, start with this one, and I am sure you will want to hear more from this great little label." - from Jean-Yves Duperron's review at classicalmusicsentinel.com
Bach: Missae Breves BWV 233 & 236 by Pygmalion
Gramophon Editor's Choice Award - February 2011 emusic link
"This second release devoted to recording the four Missae Breves or Lutheran Masses by Johann Sebastian Bach, is just as much a wonderful achievement and a thing of beauty as is the first volume (Alpha 130), reviewed and listed on this site as a 'Definitive' recording. The ensemble Pygmalion under the direction of Raphael Pichon once again apply their magic to the music. They have a way of detailing every single voice or musical instrument clearly, but yet each and everyone of those many fine details combine to form a homogenous sound and unity of purpose rarely achieved. There is a constant underlying sense of song and joy in their delivery. Even the finely crafted instrumental parts that support the voices and provide the backbone of the musical discourse, are played here with a degree of perfection and level of musicianship so consummate, that if played out of context and without the vocal lines, would provide an engrossing listening experience.
Despite the fact that these masses by Bach are actually collages, or rather recycled older material from previous cantatas or other liturgical works, they still bear the unmistakable stamp of a musical genius. They are composed of both somber and uplifting segments, that never fail to captivate your attention with many instances of complex contrapuntal writing, and many moments where the vocal and instrumental parts work independently of each other, but at the same time feed off each other's energy.
This new release from July 2012 escaped my notice until now. La Serenissima is a top-notch baroque ensemble and one of my favorites. They play so crisp and bright - especially infectious on the Vivaldi sound samples. It's also always interesting to see what Adam Chandler is going to come up with next in his quest to unearth music from little-known composers. This time around, he's included a piece by Carlo F. Pollarolo, a previously unknown composer to me. The new CD's title, "Venice by Night," alludes to the album's concept of portraying a musical night in Venice, starting with the arrival by gondola, and including a couple of stops at the opera house along the way.
I just talked myself into ordering this one. I'm going to do that right now.
Comments
The works that are included on your album are:
RV 539 (Concerto for 2 horns in F major)
RV 535 (Concerto for 2 oboes in D minor)
RV 443 (Concerto for piccolo in C major)
RV 574 (concerto for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns & violins in F major)
Although I didn't find a single St. Martin in the Fields CD that contains all four of these works, St. Martin in the Fields recorded them on these CDs:
Amazon has RV 539 here (tracks 4,5,6) and RV 535, RV 443, and 574 here (tracks 4,5,6).
I don't know how easy it is to find these CDs in Germany, but at least this should let you know which CDs to look for. These that I found are more recent recordings, so they will surely sound somewhat different, although by the same ensemble. Better yet, you could do a search for St. Martin in the Field and the RV number and see what comes up for you in Germany.
Good luck!
(I'm actually in Michigan at present, British by origin. The German piece connects with my job, not my location or nationality. I chose it as an emusic password years and years ago because it was easy to remember (I forget many things but not usually my occupation), never thinking it might have a public use or generate specific perceptions. Then I started using the boards over there, then came here and the tag trailed with me).
@Bad Thoughts - Thanks for the comment about Jordi Savall on 7digital. Your list of deals would have come in handy, but I sure understand not having the energy to do it over! I'll definitely be checking that out.
RV 539: Vivaldi Concerti by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Amazon doesn't have sound samples. Not sure if emusic has it or not. EDIT// Oh, I just now saw this album was an "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone. See here fpr info and sound samples. I would be surprised if this is not a real gem. The sample of RV 539 sounds GREAT! I will have to get this one, for sure. (By the way, this CD also includes RV 540, which is one of the most beautiful Vivaldi compositions ever - it's a concerto for lute and viola d'amore.)
RV 535: Vivaldi Eleven Concertos by Tafelmusik.
I've been noticing this one for a while with interest, but hadn't checked it out yet. I really like the sound of the samples and will be one I will buy at some point, for sure. I believe I have other recordings of all the selections on the tracklist except RV 535. Of all the others I recognized, Tafelmusik does a nice job with them, IMO. I have quite a few CDs by the Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik and I like them a lot. "Eleven Concertos" was named by the Italian Premio Internazionale del Disco Antonio organization as "Best Vivaldi Recording of the Year" for 1997.
RV 443: I was surprised to find that I do have this piccolo concerto on one of my CDs, but it is a little bit off the subject. It is included on the tracklist of the most delightful children's classical music CD produced by Classical Kids that combines classical music with storytelling. It really is very enjoyable even for adults. The CD is called Daydreams and Lullabyes. (As a matter of fact, ALL the Classical Kids CDs are excellent - strange as it sounds, the Classical Kids CD "Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery" is what got me hooked on baroque music in the first place. Before that, I thought I hated baroque/classical music! But that CD changed my viewpoint and now I can't imagine being without my baroque music. It fills a need for me that no other kind of music can do.)
RV 574: This one is on the album Vivaldi: I Concerto di Dresda
by Freiburger Baroque Orchestra. I love this ensemble. I'm pretty sure this album is on emusic but I couldn't find it (it's hard for me since I have to go in the back door to look up anything on emusic now that I'm not a member - and emusic's search mode is not easy, anyway - especially so with all the Naive recordings, which they've moved all around.)
http://www.emusic.com/album/Freiburger-Barockorchester-Vivaldi-I-Concerti-di-Dresda-MP3-Download/11412570.html
emusic link
I have seen several "best of 2010" lists with this CD included, but looked right over it until 1653 mentioned it on the emusic messageboard. After that, I downloaded it based on his recommendation and it's a great CD. I especially like the violin concerto (tracks 8-10), which is the only concerto for violin that Graupner composed.
Thank you, 1653 (if you ever see this!) - wish he'd come over here to emusers.
I'm most interested in these 2 albums:
Michele Mascitti - Sonate a violino solo & a due violoni Op. 1
Michele Mascitti - Sonate a violino solo & a due violini Op. 1 - Vol.II
I've never heard of the composer Michele Mascitti. However - I was surprised to find that I have a work of his and didn't even realize it! It's track 10-19 of Fabio Biondi's Italian Violin Sonatas (Amazon link). Now I'm going to have go back and listen to it again and see what it sounds like!
From the New Grove:
On a different subject, I happened to come across THIS while surfing the net - "Holidays with Music: Good Music, Interesting Places". Now that's my idea of a vacation!
A few days ago 1653 posted a message on the emusic baroque music thread about this newly added CD from Zig Zag. I'm not familiar with Gli Incogniti but am curious about this CD. Unfortunately, my home PC for some unknown reason will not play sound clips at the moment, so I can't hear what it sounds like. In his emusic post, 1653 said "I always thought that Bach was more a mathematician than a composer. This album changed this impression. Even here in Germany some think that this album may serve as a benchmark for these works."
Mommio - would you mind asking 1653 how it compares to these 3 CDs? I can't imagine the Zig Zag recording is better than any of these. (And while you're at it, could you ask him to come over here to emusers?).
Amazon link
Amazon link
emusic link
Compositions for solo viola da gamba written by a a British mercenary. This might excite the folk side of your brain. From AllMusic:
Setting of Psalms for choir. Schütz is reputed as a transitional figure to the Baroque style. From Opera News:
If you don't have album only tracks, try out the track "Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda", a short proto-opera by Montiverdi.
emusic link
Hear the last 3 tracks in their entirety on Youtube
emusic link
Hear a full track on Youtube
Podger's La Stravaganza was one CD I bought shortly after being introduced to baroque music, and it is a standout recording. I read somewhere on the internet at the time I was considering buying it a review by someone who was not a classical music guy, and he absolutely loved it. So it might be a good one to start with. The backing ensemble includes archlute, theorbo and guitar which make for a dynamite sound.
emusic link
Hear a full track on Youtube
This was the first Bach CD I ever listened to. It is also the CD that both my sister and a friend were turned on to baroque music with. You have to listen to Bach uninterrupted all the way through. Pretty soon you start to pick up on all those supporting undercurrents that carry you away. It can be quite overwhelming. I wrote a poem once that was published in a literary journal that described my feelings after listening to Bach. Part of it refers to the music reflecting a perfect order of the universe - a "structured pattern of cosmic tranquility." Another part says:
I float in heavenly realms,
sometimes rising and sometimes descending,
my flight suspended in whirling counterpoints,
and I know I can never fall.
I am cradled in the unchanging mathematics of music
where all is certain, like the rhythm of a mothers
heartbeat assures the infant in her womb.
Well, that's what Bach means to me. Give it a listen and see what you think.
Oh - and whatever you choose to listen to - play it loud. It sounds better that way - even more so with headphones. (IMO).
Amazon link
edit - now I do understand a little better, as Amazon are charging £7.90 (over $10) for this is in the UK
emusic link
eclassical link - has added benefit of downloadable liner notes
Oh my gosh - I am in h-e-a-v-e-n! This is some of the most gorgeous, sublime music I have heard in a long time. Hats off to the Glossa label for turning out another absolutely stunning recording. This newly released CD consisting of two of Alessandro Scarlatti's serenatas - described as among his 'minor' works - rivals, dare I say, even excels Glossa's superb 7-volume series of Handel's early Roman cantatas! I was drawn to this one on the basis of the greatness of that series, and most especially because it includes the lovely soprano Emanuela Galli. It exceeds even my highest expectations. If you like vocal baroque, this is a MUST HAVE.
See Glossa's website for background here.
This is really scrumptuous music. Two more must-haves for fans of vocal baroque music.
emusic link
Gramophon Editor's Choice Award - February 2011
emusic link
This new release from July 2012 escaped my notice until now. La Serenissima is a top-notch baroque ensemble and one of my favorites. They play so crisp and bright - especially infectious on the Vivaldi sound samples. It's also always interesting to see what Adam Chandler is going to come up with next in his quest to unearth music from little-known composers. This time around, he's included a piece by Carlo F. Pollarolo, a previously unknown composer to me. The new CD's title, "Venice by Night," alludes to the album's concept of portraying a musical night in Venice, starting with the arrival by gondola, and including a couple of stops at the opera house along the way.
I just talked myself into ordering this one. I'm going to do that right now.