Alte Musik Heute

In this premiere recording, René Jacobs leads a cast of outstanding singers and musicians in a grand production of Georg Philipp Telemann's 'Orpheus.' The manuscripts of this operatic drama were only recently rediscovered and because of some missing material, the version presented here cleverly interpolates other music by Telemann (and his contemporaries) to complete the story.

Haydn's Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross) is unique in his output. Commissioned in 1785 as an orchestral work for Good Friday by a church in Cádiz, Spain, it posed Haydn considerable problems as he tried to reconcile the general structural principles of the Classical era with a commission that required him, in effect, to write seven slow movements in a row – and, at a deeper level, to write a really somber work in a musical language made for humor and sunny lyricism. The seven movements, plus opening and central introductions and a final "Terremoto" or earthquake, stand in contrast with one another in both texture and tonality, although all are indeed dark in hue. Haydn apparently was pleased with his solution, for he arranged the work for string quartet and gave permission to Hummel to create a piano version.

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.

In this premiere recording, René Jacobs leads a cast of outstanding singers and musicians in a grand production of Georg Philipp Telemann's 'Orpheus.' The manuscripts of this operatic drama were only recently rediscovered and because of some missing material, the version presented here cleverly interpolates other music by Telemann (and his contemporaries) to complete the story.