Siesta Ensemble & Ovidio Gimenez Bassoon Delights

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature. It is known for its distinctive tone colour, wide range, variety of character, and agility. The modern bassoon exists in two forms; Buffet (or French) and Heckel (or German) systems. One who plays a bassoon of either system is called a bassoonist.

Spanish clarinettist, composer, and teacher Antonio Romero y Andia was born in 1815 in Madrid. He made his debut at 14, and later became solo clarinettist and music director of the Royal Court Orchestra. He is now remembered primarily for the Clarinet key system that bears his name, as his compositional works, though high quality, were few in number. From 1849-1876, Romero was the Clarinet Professor at the Madrid Conservatory, where he wrote several his Complete Clarinet Method . Over 150 years later, it is still in popular use by schools and conservatories all over the world.

Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) - Fagott- und Violinkonzerte / Bassoon and Violin Concertos
Ensemble il capriccio - Sergio Azzolini - Friedemann Wezel - Christian Leitherer
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 330 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Carus # 83.443 | Country/Year: Germany 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

…This concerto is just one example of Graupner’s highly original and absolutely unique compositional style. As I have observed before in reviews of recordings with instrumental works, his music is a kind of patchwork, and built from different ideas which sometimes seem to be totally unconnected. You just never knows what is going to happen. …

Born in 1994, bassoonist Mathis Stier not only won second prize at the 2019 ARD Competition, but was also awarded the coveted Audience Prize. Mathis Stier has a natural affinity with the music of the 18th century and the three works which he has chosen for his ALPHA debut demonstrate its principal characteristics: Baroque, Empfindsamkeit / Sturm und Drang and Viennese Classicism. The composers J.S. Bach, Johann Wilhelm Hertel and W.A. Mozart represent three generations: father, son and grandson. The conventions of each previous generation are questioned, musical boundaries are broken down and new paths are taken, until the generational revolt finds its way back to more conventional channels. This is how Mathis Stier describes the phenomenon: "Musically, the Mozart Concerto represents the classical bassoon and is probably the best-known work in the original literature. Hertel's concerto, on the other hand, is unusual and fairly unknown even among bassoonists. It deserves to be more widely known, however, because it is an exceedingly remarkable and idiosyncratic piece.

In 2017, the Ensemble arabesques began realising its idea of devoting albums to composers with a special predilection for woodwind instruments. The series was launched with the highly successful CD Gustav Holst Kammermusik. This was followed in 2019 by works of Francis Poulenc. For the third album, Jacques Ibert was an obvious choice. As with Holst, the particular charm of Ibert's works derives from the various combinations of woodwind and brass instruments, strings and harp that he uses.

Hindemith's writing combines the great contrapuntal sense of Bach with a mastery of modern harmony. These three pieces, with very unusual instrumental combinations, showcase some of his best writing with a fantastic performance from a world class ensemble.

Delve into the captivating compositions of Johann Friedrich Fasch with Accentus Music’s latest CD release, “Fasch: Sonatas” interpreted by Austrian baroque ensemble Barucco. Fasch, renowned as a composer even before assuming the prestigious role of court Kapellmeister in Anhalt-Zerbst in 1722, left an indelible mark on the musical landscape of the Baroque era.

For a kinder, gentler, more tuneful, and even a more danceable Stravinsky in his High neo-Classical period, try the wind chamber music Czech-French-American composer Bohuslav Martinu wrote in his High French period. Three of the works on this disc by the Ensemble Villa Musica – Le Revue de Cuisine from 1927, the Sextet from 1929, and the Quartre madrigaux from 1937 – represent Martinu at his Parisian best: archly lyrical, angularly rhythmic, and brilliantly colorful. For a lighter, deeper, more conservative, and even a more melancholy Stravinsky in his postwar late neo-Classical period, try the last work on this disc,