The hunting horn evolved in the seventeenth century as an accessory to a popular leisure activity for the aristocracy—the hunt. Its purpose during the chase was to signal unfolding events to people walking behind the mounted huntsmen; it was designed to be loud enough to project over considerable distance and over the barking of hunting hounds. From this rustic beginning, the horn underwent a remarkable process of taming and refinement over a few decades to become capable of being the featured musical instrument of chamber works in the eighteenth century, such as those recorded here. The music may still retain occasional references to its outdoor heritage in brief fanfares and hunting rhythms, but horn players achieved an ability to blend and balance with small groups of string instruments, harpsichord and woodwinds, with an emphasis on sweetness of tone, phrasing and articulation that would have been unanticipated a generation or so earlier.
Born on 15 April 1924 in Lincoln, Sir Neville Marriner studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He began his career as a violinist, playing first in a string quartet and trio, then in the London Symphony Orchestra. It was during this period that he founded the Academy, with the aim of forming a top-class chamber ensemble from London’s finest players. Beginning as a group of friends who gathered to rehearse in Sir Neville’s front room, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in 1959. The Academy now enjoys one of the largest discographies of any chamber orchestra worldwide, and its partnership with Sir Neville Marriner is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor.
Ekaterina Derzhavina's name was new to me, but this 9-CD set of Haydn's complete piano sonatas should broaden her recognition considerably…Not surprisingly, since she plays all the sonatas, you can find better performances of some individual pieces, especially the later ones. But viewed as a survey of the entire corpus, her feel for Haydn's originality comes through brilliantly. Derzhavina is an exceptional artist, and rather magical.
This milestone anniversary box set commemorates of a pivotal year for Stax Records and for American history: 1968. This period immediately follows the untimely passing of Otis Redding; it’s the year that Stax parted ways with Atlantic Records, and it’s also when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. This five-disc CD box set compiles every single (A- and B-sides) released on Stax and its subsidiary labels in ’68–over 120 iconic songs from era-de ning artists, including Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, William Bell, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Isaac Hayes, Linda Lyndell, Rufus Thomas and many more.
The 10-CD set ‘Famous Organ Music from Europe’ presents organ music from six centuries played on famous organs in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, and Transylvania. The instruments on which the pieces are played are among the greatest in existence and were built by names such as Silbermann, Schnitger, Hillebrand, and Grenzing. The organ works featured in this collection are by celebrated organ composers like J.S. Bach, Buxtehude and Sweelink as well as lesser-known masters. The music is performed by renowned organists including Harald Vogel, Michael Radulescu, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Jozef Sluys, Christoph Bossert, Horst Gehann, Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, Jean Ferrard, Xavier Deprez, and Andreas Liebig.