Baroque

Holland Baroque explores the monastic musical traditions of 17th-century North Brabant, together with a group of established early music vocalists. Brabant 1653 unveils hidden gems of Dutch music history, as well as of baroque music at large. The album’s central figure is Benedictus à Sancto Josepho, pre-eminent organist and composer of Brabant in the late seventeenth century, and known in France as “le grand Carme”. By putting his music and that of contemporaries in the limelight, artistic directors Judith and Tineke Steenbrink search for a distinguishable Brabant Style, and convincingly demonstrate that the Netherlands possessed a much richer musical culture than is usually acknowledged.

A suite connection between J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and Charles François Dieupart (1667-1740) is claimed by the young, multi-award-winning baroque ensemble Marsyas Baroque with its debut CD. The juxtaposition of two English Suites by Bach and two Suittes de Clavessin by Dieupart, who is virtually unknown today, shows not only that the French composer is still underestimated, but also that Bach was inspired by the work of his colleague.

Decca Classics is thrilled to announce a new Baroque album from Grammy award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti. This is the first album Benedetti has released on a period set-up including gut strings, and she is joined by a leading group of freelance baroque musicians, forming the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra for the very first time. The album features a selection of concerti by Vivaldi plus Geminiani’s incredible arrangement of Corelli’s ‘La Folia’, one of the oldest western classical themes which has been arranged by many composers over time, particularly in the baroque era. Geminiani was one of the greatest violinists of the era and Corelli was one of his teachers whilst growing up in Italy. Later when he moved to London, Geminiani reworked a number of Corelli’s works for local audiences including this arrangement of ‘La Folia’.

Holland Baroque presents Minne, an improvised programme inspired by the love poetry of medieval mystic Hadewijch from Brabant. Hadewijch was a 13th-century beguine who wrote an impressive oeuvre of love poetry, providing an original, female perspective on medieval life. For this project, Holland Baroque works together with Bastarda Trio, a folk-jazz group combining the unique sonorities of clarinet, cello and contrabass clarinet. Inspired by medieval poetry, the result is a playful, passionate, truly contemporary album.

Since her early success in Glyndebourne’s now famous production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Danielle de Niese has become most closely associated with the music of the Baroque. The New York Times commented: “A voice seductive enough to woo gods as well as mortals”.

The closing disc in London Baroque’s survey of the rise and fall of the trio sonata. Looking back over this eight-disc series, which opened with three Fantasias composed before 1620 by Orlando Gibbons, it becomes clear how far London Baroque has travelled. The series has taken in both staples of the repertoire and more or less unknown jewels, by composers still revered today or awaiting rediscovery.

Marie Leonhardt, comme son mari Gustav, fait partie des artistes qui ont redonné vie à la musique baroque à partir des années 1950. Violoniste, elle a aussi animé durant des années l'Ensemble Baroque de Mateus, du nom du magnifique palais portugais où elle réunissait ses musiciens. Cet enregistrement, initialement paru en 1993, est le seul réalisé par cet ensemble. Il donne à entendre un programme composé de chaconnes et passacailles baroques, ces danses construites sur des structures répétitives qui connurent une fortune immense aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. A cette réédition s'ajoute un enregistrement inédit par Marie Leonhardt de la Chaconne pour violon seul de Bach, réalisé en 2003. Un très grand disque, au delà des modes.