Archiv Produktion

This is a superb recording of the Two-Part and Sinfonias (Three-Part Inventions) of Johann Sebastian Bach. Kenneth Gilbert is a wonderful interpreter of Bach's keyboard music and in this recording plays an instrument made in 1671 by Jan Couchet that was subsequently enlarged in 1778. The Two-Part Inventions and Sinfonias consist of 15 parts; they were written as technical exercises and as composition demonstration pieces originally for his son Wilhelm Friedemann. The various pieces were probably written separately and were gathered together by Bach in major/minor key sequence and published in 1723. The recording is clear and well balanced. Kenneth Gilbert plays beautifully; the music is lively without being ostentatious.

Most of the Archiv releases in respect of Gardiner's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000 were not recorded on the Pilgrimage, but as much as 10 years earlier. This is an exception, recorded live in Il Duomo di S. Nicolò in Merano in August 2000. And it is great. The pick of the bunch is BWV105, which featured a gorgeous soprano aria "Wie zittern und wanken", followed by a recitative and the bright, bouncy tenor aria "Kann ich nur Jesum mir zum Freunde machen", rejecting the world and all its works. Never have I heard it played with SUCH bounce; it's irresistible, you moan along, wave your arms in the air and generally make a complete fool of yourself. Well, OK, I do. At 9 quid, Amazon is giving it away.

Paul McCreesh is one of the better-known figures in London's active early music scene, particularly as a conductor of small ensemble music of the Baroque. He grew up playing the cello. While at Manchester University, he formed a student chamber choir and ensemble of period instruments. In 1982 he organized it formally as the Gabrieli Consort and Players. .

Due at least in part to Naïve's growing catalogue of exemplary recordings of the relatively obscure operas of Antonio Vivaldi, more and more singers are happily turning to his vast operatic output as a source of new material. Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená brings an earthy emotionality to this selection of arias that is weighted toward the ravishingly lyrical, but which also includes the floridly virtuosic.

Georg Friedrich Händel - Floridante
Marijana Mijanovic / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis
3xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 806 MB | Full Artwork: 351 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Archiv Produktion # 477 6566 AH3 | Country/Year: Germany 2007
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Opera

"…their instrumental contributions are always judicious. The brooding yet lively performance of the magnificent overture sets the tone for a performance which frequently brings out the inventive genius of Handle's writing. The pacing and rhetoric of the music is intelligently delivered throughout the performance, and (…) the cast is remarkably excellent: Joyce DiDonato's silvery singing is beautiful, stylish, dramatically astute yet unforced; her first contributions are matched by comparable quality from the light-voiced Sharon Rostorf-Zamir; Vito Priante smoulders with menacing villainy as Oronte; Roberta Invernizzi navigates the role of the disguised hero Timante with style and charm, and combines to wonderful effect with Rostorf-Zamir in the spellbinding duet "Fuor di periglio". Curtis certainly reveals that "Floridante" is a compelling and richly rewarding opera, and Handelians should not hesitate to add this to their collection." ~Grammophone

Magdalena Kozena - Mozart Arias
Jos van Immerseel / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightment / Sir Simon Rattle
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 278 MB | Full Artwork: 161 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Archiv Produktion # 00289 477 6272 AH | Country/Year: Germany 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Opera, Vocal

"If anyone has recorded a lovelier Mozart recital in recent years, I've yet to hear it. In her early thirties, Kozená is now consummate mistress of her art. Her liquid high mezzo, with its easy upward extension, combines warmth with the bloom and freshness of youth, while her coloratura, on display in 'Al desio di chi t'adora' . . . is as brilliant and expressive as Bartoli's, yet without the Italian diva's intrusive aspirates . . . Fortepianist Jos van Immerseel is an equally sympathetic partner in an impassioned yet intimate performance . . ." ~Gramophone

Illness and death constantly disrupted the security of Bach's childhood and adulthood.We do not know when or for whom the "Actus tragicus"BWV 106 was written. Bach was in the habit of using compositional devices to illustrate theological points. In the central movement of BWV106 the earnest plea "Ja komm, Herr Jesu!" (Come, Lord Jesus!") is repeated more than 15 times, and the music demonstrates that the plea is not in vain. A spiritual longing for eternity with Christ emanates from the text and the music of the motet :'O Jesu Christ, mein's Lebens Licht' BWV118/231(O Jesus Christ, light of my life). The motet was first given in 1736 at a Leipzig memorial service; we don't know for whom. Gardiner guides his chorus through the nine movement long motet with gentle confidence. His knowing control of the pace sustains both the long lines(reminiscent of the opening chorus to St. Matthew Passion)and the harmonic tension. This is truly a heart-rendingly beautiful motet.

Here is a case of expectations richly rewarded. Telemann's flute quartets are vibrant and tuneful, at times making great demands on the soloists. The Musica Antiqua Koln are in all ways up to the challenge, delivering a musical bouquet that is at various turns elegant, soothing, and exciting.

The music on this disc dates to 1996, shortly after the then-emerging young mezzo soprano Magdalena Kozená had graduated from the Bratislava College of Music. She gave a concert of Bach arias at a medieval Benedictine monastery in the old Moravian town of Trebic, as part of a music festival called Concentus Moraviae, and it evolved into the present disc. The disc itself was recorded not at the monastery, but at a Czech concert hall with very live, cathedral-like sound.