Great Freedom No. 7 Aka Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944) Helmut Käutner, Hans Albers, Ilse Werner, Hans Söhnker

Heinichen’s last Mass, composed in the style of the high baroque as a ”number mass,“ is imposing as a result of its architectonic force and its inexhaustible originality. The basis for the brilliant, festive character of Bach's Magnificat is the scoring for trompets, timpani and a choir which here is expanded to five voices.

La finta giardiniera was a resounding success: after the first performance 1774 in Rome, the opera was translated into several languages and staged in many other European cities and inspired Mozart to write an opera of the same title. This world premiere recording by the ensemble l'arte del mondo shows the exceptional skills of this little-known composer. The Spanish Catalan soprano Nuria Rial is famous for her shining, crystal clear and beautiful voice and is one of the best baroque voices for baroque arias. She was described as "a silvery sounding voice, as clear as a bell."

Winschermann's approach to the cantatas is conservative; his tempos are usually well chosen, though sometimes a little on the slow side, and his phrasing inclines towards that smooth legato so much favoured by Helmuth Rilling… Cantatas Nos. 147 and 74…were issued in 1972 and I think, on balance, they are the two which best illustrate the strong points of Winschermann's approach. In Cantata No. 74, especially, there is some fine obbligato playing from the violinist, Saschko Gawriloff, from Don Smithers (trumpet), and from Winschermann himself (oboe da caccia). The soprano, Ileana Cotrubas, has a vocal colour which suits the music very well…

The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers originated back in January 2007 when musician brothers Luther & Cody Dickinson sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus along with Blues Greats Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart and the late Memphis pianist, producer and all around musical stylist Jim Dickinson gathered for a recording under the group name of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers.

Ernst Eichner (1740 – 1777) was one of the early masters of symphonic composition whose work had a lasting effect on other composers.

Carl Stamitz, son of Mannheim composer Johann Stamitz, toured all over Europe and was a famous figure in the last third of the 18th century, well regarded almost everywhere. The exception was Mozart, who – probably out of jealousy, as annotator Olaf Krone suggested (the notes are in English, German, and French) – wrote that Stamitz and his brother Anton were "miserable note scribblers and players – boozers and whoremongers – which isn't my kind of people."

For the first time ever, Richard Strauss’ songs can be heard in an arranged version for choir or choir and violin. Compiled from different opuses, including Vier letzte Lieder op. 150, the KammerChor Saarbrücken and their conductor Georg Grün present several famous songs in a new guise. Franz Zimnol’s and Clytus Gottwald’s transcriptions approach Strauss’ compositions in different ways, all of them providing new listening impressions as well as perspectives on the original.