Son of God (2014)

ew music-lovers will be familiar with the name of Giovanni Battista Costanzi. Some may know him as a cello concerto in D is attributed to Haydn (H VIIb,4), but also to Costanzi. That piece dates from 1772, close to the end of his life and career. The present disc includes a piece which he composed in 1723, when he hadn't even turned 20. At that time he had already entered the service of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome. In 1729 his opera Carlo Magno was performed, which was a huge success. As a result he held some of the most prestigious positions in Roman music life in the next decades. It seems that Luigi Boccherini was one of his pupils. The French composer Grétry considered him one of Rome's most popular composers.

Few music-lovers will be familiar with the name of Giovanni Battista Costanzi. Some may know him as a cello concerto in D is attributed to Haydn (H VIIb,4), but also to Costanzi. That piece dates from 1772, close to the end of his life and career. The present disc includes a piece which he composed in 1723, when he hadn't even turned 20. At that time he had already entered the service of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome. In 1729 his opera Carlo Magno was performed, which was a huge success. As a result he held some of the most prestigious positions in Roman music life in the next decades. It seems that Luigi Boccherini was one of his pupils. The French composer Grétry considered him one of Rome's most popular composers.

This 28 CD box set includes the Argo jewels from Marriner’s early recording days with the chamber orchestra he founded in 1958, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields. The edition spans the years 1964-1981, and includes a bonus CD of the first recordings from 1961.The collection concentrates on the Argo years, when the pattern for the Academy’s success was set. Winning performances by soloists such as Alan Loveday and Iona Brown — who in 1974 became Marriner’s successor in directing from the violin – were a key part of the fabric of the Academy’s unique sound. Highlights in this box include the legendary recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and full performances of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem.

ew music-lovers will be familiar with the name of Giovanni Battista Costanzi. Some may know him as a cello concerto in D is attributed to Haydn (H VIIb,4), but also to Costanzi. That piece dates from 1772, close to the end of his life and career. The present disc includes a piece which he composed in 1723, when he hadn't even turned 20. At that time he had already entered the service of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome. In 1729 his opera Carlo Magno was performed, which was a huge success. As a result he held some of the most prestigious positions in Roman music life in the next decades. It seems that Luigi Boccherini was one of his pupils. The French composer Grétry considered him one of Rome's most popular composers. He was a prolific composer but the largest part of his oeuvre has been lost. What remains is a handful of oratorios, a number of liturgical works, including masses, the above-mentioned opera and arias from some other works for the stage, a cantata and some instrumental works.

All of Rachmaninov’s music - from his earliest student compositions to his final masterpieces – has been collected together for the first time on 32 CDs, in what is definitively the most complete and comprehensive edition of Rachmaninov’s works ever released.