Ouverture Burlesque

The Overture seems to have been Telemann's favourite compositional form. His Overtures outnumber the solo concertos by far. These Overtures - or Suites - show a great variety, as this CD amply demonstrates. It starts with one of Telemann's most popular works, the 'burlesque' Don Quixotte and also contains two Overtures with a solo instrument. In some of his Overtures Telemann abondons the traditional dances and replaces them by character pieces, which indicates French influence.

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was one of the most prolific composers of the Barock period, rivalling Vivaldi in his industry. He studied languages and science at Leipzig University, and was largely self-taught as far as music was concerned…
…This 29CD set provides a superb introduction to this master of the Barock. He is often suffers in comparison to Bach, Handel and Vivaldi mainly because it is so difficult to know where to start with such a vast body of work. This Brilliant Classics box set makes the Telemann experience all the more enjoyable by making this selection and providing a wonderful window into the world of this great composer.

"The last great father-figure of Western music" was how Leonard Bernstein eulogized Igor Stravinsky in 1972 before his homage concert in London a year after the composer's death. Stravinsky's works, he asserted, "sum up and embrace all of music itself - from primitive folk art to highly sophisticated serialism, from rarefied church music to outspoken jazz." In fact, Bernstein performed surprisingly few selections from Stravinsky's vast output, recording most of those for Columbia Masterworks and RCA Victor, yet they include some of his most indelible interpretations. And he also delivered eloquent and revelatory lectures on the composer.

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-Rom and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (the dawn of opera, Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music. An opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French composer of the Baroque era.
Exceptionally prolific and versatile, Charpentier produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres. His mastery in writing sacred vocal music, above all, was recognized and hailed by his contemporaries.

Due to legal complications engineered by Jean-Baptiste Lully and effected by Louis XIV, Marc-Antoine Charpentier's brilliant incidental music for Molière's final comedy, Le Malade imaginaire (1672-1674), was subjected to two drastic revisions. Despite the composer's usual precautions and careful maintenance of his manuscripts, the work's ordering became confused and scores of two important sections – the "Premier intermède" and the "Petit opéra impromptu" – lost. Thanks to the work of musicologists John S. Powell and H. Wiley Hitchcock, the full work has been reconstructed from surviving parts and restored for performance. The 1990 recording by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants is the most complete and authoritative version available; but if that makes it seem stuffy and dry, then hearing the performance will come as a glorious surprise.

Riccardo Chailly was born into a musical family in Milan. He studied at the conservatories in Milan and Perugia and received specialized training in conducting from Franco Ferrara at his Siena summer courses. At the age of 20, Chailly became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at Milan’s La Scala. He made his opera debut there in 1978 and was soon in great demand at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls.