Esterhazy

A 50 CD Original Jackets Collection celebrating the greatest Classical and early romantic recordings from Decca’s pioneering early music label L’Oiseau-Lyre. The box features orchestral, vocal, chamber and solo piano music from Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, Malcolm Binns, Andras Schiff, the Music Party, the Esterhazy Quartet among others.

Tomasini was primarily a violinst but also a composer of chamber music in the court of Prince Nikolaus von Esterhazy, in which he served as a musician for much of his life alongside Haydn. Haydn’s influence on Tomasini is clear, and working for a music patron as devoted as Prince Nikolaus helped the musical output of both artists to flourish. Prince Nikolaus was a firm fan and indeed talented performer of the baryton, and consquently both Haydn and Tomasini composed several works for the instrument, the former having composed over 175 such works.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) is one of the 'giants' of Venetian musicians. Surprisingly, while he was recognized as an exceptionally talented violinist, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1703! One of the high points of his career was his long (though intermittent), association with the Ospedale della Pieta, the orphanage for girls which had a tradition of fine musical training of the girls, which Vivaldi undertook most successfully, first as violin master, then in other capacities. He composed most of his music while working there.

This CD brings a Czech label new to me and two concertos which are billed as world premiere recordings. Indeed, I don’t believe that I have ever heard any of Kraft’s music: neither he nor his father features in the Oxford Companion to Music, though they receive a short joint entry in the Concise Grove. Mikuláš (Nikolaus) Kraft was the son of Anton or Antonín Kraft a member of the Esterházy orchestra and composition pupil of its director, Haydn. Nikolaus was born at Esterházy-Kastély, as it is now known, and no less a person than the Prince was his godfather.

A unique cultural event, La Folle Journée proposes to desecrate classical music in order to allow access to a wider audience, always with the first requirement of artistic excellence. Created in Nantes in 1995 by René Martin, the festival presents for five days at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes about 300 concerts lasting 45 minutes and welcomes the greatest artists of the world. This year, La Folle Journée celebrates the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Beethoven and proposes to discover the richness of his work.

The music director of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, the city of his birth, Leopold Hofmann (1738-1793) was a prolific composer. The son of a highly educated civil servant and a student of Georg Wagensil, he wrote dozens of symphonies, much chamber music and about 60 concertos, including at least 13 for the flute. Insistent repeated notes in the upper strings set the stage for the flute entrance in the opening `Allegro moderato' in the G Major concerto. Over a walking bass line, the glittering flute dances in and out of the accompanying strings, sometimes soaring above them, at others engaging in delicate interplay.

A new Naxos recording offering two of Hofmann's oboe concerti and two concerti for oboe and harpsichord proves that the prolific Viennese composer could write nice tunes and develop them with spiffy efficiency. Both technical bravura and the expressive colours of the oboe are well explored in these conventional but vivacious three-movement concerti. Stefan Schilli (principal oboe of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), Jeno Jando (harpsichord) and the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia under Bela Drahos play with superb panache and discipline; the sound engineering is wonderfully transparent and detailed notes are included.

Beethoven’s monumental contribution to Western classical music is celebrated here in this definitive collection marking the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Surveying the totality of his career and achievement, the Complete Edition spans orchestral, concerto, keyboard, chamber, music for the stage, choral and vocal works, encompassing his most familiar and iconic masterpieces, alongside rarities and recently reconstructed fragments and sketches in world premiere recordings. The roster of artists and ensembles includes some of Beethoven’s greatest contemporary exponents, in performances that have won critical acclaim worldwide. Each month, we also have corresponding digital albums that you may download and enjoy again and again.

Recorded in St John's Church West Norwood, London in March 2022, Florilegium release their 31st Channel Classics album: Haydn Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 and 8. This recording involves 18 members of Florilegium, the exact same number Haydn had at his disposal when he composed these symphonies shortly after arriving at Esterhazy in 1761. Haydn’s first symphonies for his new employer, Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, form a group of three entitled Morning, Noon and Night. Perhaps these were a result of the Prince’s suggestion that Haydn write something programmatic along the lines of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.