Christopher Hogwood The Vivaldi

The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the Academy of Vocal Music). The musicians play on either original instruments from the period when the music was composed or modern copies of such instruments. They generally play Baroque, Classical, and sometimes Romantic music, though they have also played some new compositions for baroque orchestra in recent years.

A collection of the very best of Bartoli's treasured recordings of musical delights and discoveries of the 17th and 18th century. Featuring two previously unreleased world premiere recordings of forgotten jewels by Leonardo Vinci and Agostino Steffani. With guest appearances from Philippe Jaroussky, June Anderson, Franco Fagioli and Sol Gabetta.

This is an excellent and varied selection of composers from the very well known like Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach and Vivaldi, through the less famous but familiar like Frescobaldi, Sainte-Colombe and Zelenka, to the downright obscure. It is all delightful: the musicians are uniformly excellent, and include such great names as Gustav Leonhardt, Cantus Colln, Christopher Hogwood and so on. They give fine performances both of the familiar works and of the less familiar ones. Obviously there will be discs you like more than others and you may already have favourite versions of some works, but these discs are never less than very good and are often outstanding.

This is an excellent and varied selection of composers from the very well known like Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach and Vivaldi, through the less famous but familiar like Frescobaldi, Sainte-Colombe and Zelenka, to the downright obscure. It is all delightful: the musicians are uniformly excellent, and include such great names as Gustav Leonhardt, Cantus Colln, Christopher Hogwood and so on. They give fine performances both of the familiar works and of the less familiar ones.

The growing catalogue of Platti albums on Brilliant Classics includes his Cello Concertos (BC94722), his keyboard works (BC95118) and a first recording of chamber music (BC94007). Taken together they paint a vivid and engaging portrait of an 18th-century musician/composer who came to exercise on generations of composers writing for the cello. Platti himself was proficient on several instruments but he retained a special affection for the cello, producing as many as 28 cello concertos – even more than Vivaldi – and other works including the 12 accompanied cello sonatas on this album. These are divided into two groups of six, both dated 1725 – just a few years after Bach’s cello suites.

A beautifully-packaged 50-disc box set, released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, one of the most important and adventurous early music labels. The set contains 50 classic recordings of baroque and ancient music, chosen to represent the breadth of this huge and varied catalogue and each disc is slip-cased with artwork replicating the original CD or LP artwork.

The Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble shines brightly in the world of Baroque music. The ensemble's delight in playing adds a special lustre to their period instruments. This special quality has characterized the ensemble since 1971 when it was founded by Lars Brolin, at the Royal Opera House Orchestra. Today, six musicians form the heart of the ensemble, but their ranks may swell to nine or even thirty members as the repertoire requires.