Jean François Madeuf

Jean-François Madeuf and Pierre-Yves Madeuf are two of the leading exponents of the historically informed performance practice as applied to wind instruments. On natural horn or natural trumpet they can be found in many of Europe’s main early music ensembles and orchestras. On this new Accent CD, they team up with Sigiswald Kuijken’s exquisite La Petite Bande to perform a set of Georg Philipp Telemann concertos as they have never been heard before on record: using natural trumpets and horns, and bringing the pieces back to their original chamber music context.

Alexis Kossenko delves into the repertoire of one of the most admired orchestras in Europe during Bach's lifetime. The greatest composers of the century composed for this famous ensemble, who were showcase for the musical splendor of the court of the prince-electors. Combining concerti and sacred music, this album is the first volume in an exceptional series devoted to this orchestra.

La Petite Bande has recorded a spectacular rendition of Bach’s four orchestral suites, certainly some of the most spectacular instrumental music of the Baroque repertoire. La Petite Bande director, Sigiswald Kuijken, has written a very informative essay explaining the history of these pieces. Unfortunately, more is unknown than known. Kuijken speculates that the works were conceived for string orchestra and the wind parts were added at a later date. He also notes that sections of the 4th Suite were reused in the opening chorus of the Christmas Cantata, BWV 110. Kuijken also remarks that he has rethought his approach to these works opting for small musical forces as opposed to the rather large ensemble that La Petite Bande employed in its performances and recording of about 30 years ago.

Sigiswald Kuijken directed these performers, based notionally in Trondheim, for a festival concert in Sarrebourg in 2015. Like other takes on the great corpus of Bach cantatas by groups who are attempting to show us his works in a wider context, this pair is presented in the wider context of the musical expression of the final conflict between the forces of good and evil in the late 17th century. Buxtehude’s cantata Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm (BuxWV10) and Christian Geist’s Quis hostis in cœlis provide the context for Bach’s compositions for Michaelmas in 1724 and 1726.

Les Agrémens, Guy van Waas - La symphonie parisienne (2015) {7CD Set Ricercar Digital Download RIC 357}
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© 2015 Ricercar / Outher Music | RIC 357
Classical / Viennese School / Symphony

It was at Le Concert Spirituel that the Germanicstyle symphony made its appearance in Paris. This story began in the 1750s with the arrival of musicians from Mannheim, including Johann Stamitz, in the French capital. Subsequently, various composers such as the Belgian François-Joseph Gossec appeared as the creators of the earliest French symphonies before Haydn’s symphonies enjoyed a very particular success there. This set, released on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Les Agrémens, takes up most of the recordings conducted by Guy Van Waas in a repertoire bringing together composers played in Paris at the end of the 18th century (Gossec, Grétry, Haydn, Krauss), and announcing the beginnings of the Romantic symphony with two recording premieres: a symphony by Hérold and Beethoven’s Second Symphony.