Baroque Garden

Elephant House Quartet invites the listener for a stroll through the colourful oeuvre of Telemann — himself a gardening enthusiast — presenting a bouquet of chamber-musical jewels. Telemann’s Garden ranges from excerpts of solo fantasias for violin, flute and harpsichord to a sonata for viola da gamba and basso continuo, a trio sonata for violin, recorder and basso continuo, a suite for violin, flute and basso continuo, as well as one of the quartets Telemann wrote during his Paris sojourns. These pieces together constitute a fascinating portrait of one of the most prolific and successful composers of the Baroque era.

Florence + The Machine have shared a new live album recorded at their huge Madison Square Garden show in New York last month. The gig took place on September 17 as part of a world tour behind Florence’s new album ‘Dance Fever’, and a 24-track live album of the performance has hit streaming services today (October 14).

Jean Claude Malgoire began his musical studies in his native Avignon. At the Paris Conservatoire he took first prizes in oboe and in chamber music, embarking on a brilliant career as an instrumentalist at the age of twenty, crowned by the first prize in 1968 in the Geneva International Competition. His interest in contemporary music brought a recording of music by Holliger, Castiglioni and Shinohara and in 1972 Bruno Maderna chose him as a principal in the Ensemble Européen de Musique contemporaine. He was subsquently appointed by Charles Munch as cor anglais soloist in the Orchestre de Paris.

Classical musicians have always recognized the musicality and originality of The Beatles’ songs, Leonard Bernstein declaring the Lennon-McCartney composing team ‘the Schuberts of our time’. This sequel to Peter Breiner’s multi-platinum Beatles Go Baroque(Naxos 8.555010) takes the original concept even further, keeping 18th-century masterpieces such as Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Bach’s famously stylish and beautiful Violin Concerto No. 1 largely intact, elegantly combining them with The Beatles’ most enduring melodies to create a joyously genuine 21st-century mashup. Peter Breineris one of the world’s most recorded musicians, with over 200 albums released and multiple streams and downloads. Known as a conductor, composer, pianist and arranger, he has conducted, often doubling as a pianist, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth, Jerusalem, New Zealand, Moscow and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France, to mention just a few. His compositions and arrangements have been played in concerts and broadcast worldwide, and some of the most prestigious ballet companies have used his music in numerous performances.

Vienna, Salzburg and Rome were among the principal centres of power for the Holy Roman Empire of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and they accordingly attracted the most talented and ambitious composers of the day. The Venetian-born Caldara aspired to the post of Court Kapellmeister in Vienna, and composed the wedding music for Emperor Charles VI in 1708. He won huge success in Rome, where he followed in the footsteps of the young Handel, and eventually won the favour of the emperor himself, who even conducted some of Caldara’s operas.

It seems incredible that a singer of Heldentenor quality like Vickers could sing so stylishly in Handel, with elaborate divisions perfectly executed. Not only that, his portrayal of Samson is deeply moving, thanks to vocal acting over as wide tonal and dynamic range.

John Eliot Gardiner is one of the leading conductors in the active authentic performances movement in England, performing Baroque music but also extending his range into later repertoire. He first conducted at the age of 15, and after finishing school he studied at King's College, Cambridge. While still an undergraduate, he conducted the combined Oxford and Cambridge Singers on a 1964 tour of the Middle East and founded the Monteverdi Choir, which has consistently performed on his recordings since.

Secret Garden, the Irish-Norwegian band specialist in new instrumental music is one of the world’s most successful duos with more than 3 billion streams and 5 million physical albums sold. Their upcoming 12th studio album “Songs in the Circle of Time”, is an enchanting blend of dreamy melodies and powerful arrangements, transporting listeners to a world of beauty and timeless elegance. The sources of inspiration are many and feel timeless, from 17th century baroque – classical music and contemporary melting into their own style.

Ready for the Real Life is the seventh album by German rock band Fools Garden, released in 2005. As it was recorded with a new line-up (except for singer Peter Freudenthaler and guitarist Volker Hinkel), the band's name was changed to Fools Garden. "Man of Devotion" was released as the first single. "Does Anybody Know?" and "Welcome Sun" were released as a double A-side. Fools Garden (until 2003 known as Fool's Garden) is a German musical group formed in 1991, initially named after Fool's Garden, an album recorded by Freudenthaler and Hinkel. Thomas Mangold, Roland Röhl and Ralf Wochele joined the band shortly afterwards and Once in a Blue Moon was released by the complete band in 1993. In 1995, the band released Dish of the Day which gained popularity in Europe and Asia as it included "Lemon Tree", the band's most successful single to date, reaching #1 in Germany and other countries.

Secret Garden's formula is plain to hear. They have the lush string orchestrations of Yanni, the layered vocals of Clannad and Enya, and the stage-show Celtica of Riverdance. In the past these elements have weighed down the music of Irish violinist Fionuala Sherry and Norwegian keyboardist Rolf Lovland with a sweetness that would make tiramisu taste like poi. On Dawn of a New Century, they finally dance closer to the line that divides schlock from serenity, beauty from the banal. Capercaillie singer Karen Matheson gives a haunting vocal performance on "Prayer," surrounded by Clannad-like harmonies. "Children of the River" is a cinematic expanse with Asian overtones, while "Lore of the Loom" swoops through orchestral landscapes that could be Ireland or Norway. But there's also the hokey faux-Baroque of "Divertimento" and the title piece, which could stand in for "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing."