Concerto Koln

For his first album as an exclusive Erato artist, the French clarinettist Pierre Génisson focuses on his instrument’s most inspired 18th century advocate: Mozart. The centrepiece of his programme is the composer’s sublime clarinet concerto. “The spiritual and symbolic scope of this concerto is immense,” says Génisson. “Every time I come back to this masterwork, I experience the same thrill as when I discover a piece for the first time… Mozart and the clarinet – what a special combination!”

For their new album, Concerto Köln have tracked down yet another gem of the Baroque era. Their journey takes us to England, to the composer Charles Avison and his arrangements of Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord sonatas, which represents a milestone in British music history – beautifully interpreted here by one of the leading ensembles in the field of historical performance practice. Charles Avison is not exactly that what one would call a “popular composer”. He hardly plays any role whatsoever in the musical scene, the Bielefelder Katalog has documented only a handful of performances of his works and he surfaces rather sporadically within the expanse of musicology. It is basically due to historical performance practice that attention is once again being drawn to his works. And indeed: it is worth it!

Salieri's own autograph work-list contains the following entry: 'Two concertos for the pianoforte, written for two ladies." Unfortunately we do not know who these two ladies were. All that we can say for certain is that they must both have been technically accomplished and trained to the highest musical standards. Salieri's demanding concertos are distinguished in the main by their middle movements, traditionally the genre's most fertile field of experimentation.

Martin Frösts new album is a baroque adventure based on the question: What might Vivaldi have composed for the clarinet if it had been more fully developed? For this recording three clarinet concertos have been newly composed, made up of music drawn from Vivaldis most beautiful opera and oratorio arias. Performed on the mellow, songlike chalumeau the predecessor of the modern clarinet and the brilliant, virtuosic clarinet of today, Martin Fröst and Concerto Köln create a wonderful symbiosis between the old and the new.

Mahan Esfahani veröffentlicht sein Debütalbum “Time Present and Time Past”, und damit erscheint auch die erste Cembalo Veröffentlichung bei Deutsche Grammophon seit über 30 Jahren! Sein Album, das maßgeblich durch Gedichte von T.S. Elliot inspiriert wurde, vereint Barockmusik von Bach und Corelli mit minimalistischen Klängen von Komponisten wie Reich und Gorecki. Mit seinen eingängigen Interpretationen begeistert Esfahani nicht nur seine Zuhörer für das historische Tasteninstrument, durch die Begleitung des “Concerto Köln”, einem auf historische Aufführungspraxis spezialisierten Orchester, gelingt es ihm, die Musik besonders authentisch wirken zu lassen.

Mahan Esfahani veröffentlicht sein Debütalbum “Time Present and Time Past”, und damit erscheint auch die erste Cembalo Veröffentlichung bei Deutsche Grammophon seit über 30 Jahren! Sein Album, das maßgeblich durch Gedichte von T.S. Elliot inspiriert wurde, vereint Barockmusik von Bach und Corelli mit minimalistischen Klängen von Komponisten wie Reich und Gorecki. Mit seinen eingängigen Interpretationen begeistert Esfahani nicht nur seine Zuhörer für das historische Tasteninstrument, durch die Begleitung des “Concerto Köln”, einem auf historische Aufführungspraxis spezialisierten Orchester, gelingt es ihm, die Musik besonders authentisch wirken zu lassen.

No less than five brilliant countertenors – including Max Emanuel Cencic and Philippe Jaroussky – join conductor Diego Fasolis and Concerto Köln for Artaserse by Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730). In early 18th century Italy, the Neapolitan-born composer was one of the brightest stars in opera, and Artaserse is considered his masterpiece.

Chances are excellent that, unless you remember the sixteenth volume of the old brown-backed set of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians – "Riegel to Schusterfleck" – then you have never encountered composer Henri-Joseph Rigel. The scion of a musical family that also spelled its name "Riegel," Rigel studied with Niccolò Jommelli and Franz Xaver Richter before arriving in Paris in 1767; although his musical language remained essentially Italo-German, Rigel is mainly considered a French composer as the bulk of his work and sphere of influence was centered in Paris. He was a member of the Concert Spirituel, a reasonably prolific and successful composer of opera and oratorio (his La Sortie d'Egypte has been revived in modern times in Europe), and served on the founding faculty of the Paris Conservatoire, beginning in 1795.