Gottfried

For those new to Mendelssohn's music, this might look like a recording of some major works of the composer; be aware that they're virtually unknown music of Mendelssohn's early teens, first published in complete form only in 1999. For those already a fan of Mendelssohn, however, they're very intriguing works that show the developing talents of the young composer in a different light than do the set of twelve-string symphonies that are his most frequently performed works of the period.

It is true that images have the power to keep a trace of the past. Gottfried von der Goltz and the Freiburger Barockorchestra prove with this recording that music too conceals the secret of the memory deep within. Though rarely played, much less recorded, Mozart’s youth symphonies bear the reminiscence of the child the composer used to be, as well as including the seeds of his future masterpieces.

Gottfried von der Goltz, first violin and conductor of the first-rate Freiburger Barockorchester comes back with a new album dedicated to the violin sonatas of a young - and already brilliant - Telemann. Rarely recorded, these works show a very surprising form as they allow the musician total freedom of expression and ornamentation. These features demonstrate also the unique creative inventiveness already in germ in Telemann’s music.

Writing about Bach's six sonatas and partitas for solo violin often focuses on the nature of the music: Are the pieces humanistic in tone? Do they reflect deep spiritual-numerological concerns? But the first thing the average listener is likely to notice about them is their sheer difficulty: their monumental quality comes in part from the fact that, as with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the musicians are struggling to re-create the music. That's partly the result of playing the music on a violin that wasn't built for it, and although there are plenty of recordings on a Baroque violin there are fewer players who have the means to deliver the music cleanly and confidently on one.

Violinist Gottfried von der Goltz at the head of the Freiburger Barockorchester performs Corelli’s Concerti Grossi, true hits of the baroque repertoire.

This is probably Mozart’s least interesting opera–if indeed it is an opera at all. Composed at the end of 1771 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Salzburg’s Archbishop Schrattenbach, its performance was cancelled due to the archbishop’s sudden death. Mozart re-dedicated it to the new archbishop (Colloredo). There is still doubt as to whether it was ever performed. It’s in one act of just under two hours and is concerned with the Roman general Scipio, who in a dream is made to choose between the godesses Fortune and Constancy to guide him through life. Needless to say, he chooses Constancy over luck, and we don’t care.