Jan Dismas Zelenka

What sounds, except the dinner bell, could be as exhilarating as a baroque cantata for soprano and trumpet? Bach's solo Cantata #51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, is deservedly one of his most popular and oft-performed, not only because its rousing strains could wake a congregation of beefy Bürghers any Sunday of the year but also because it's brilliantly constructed, a composition so refined that every phrase is crucial. The performance of it on this CD is as polished as any I've ever heard, and that would be enough to justify five-times-five stars, but the other soprano/trumpet pieces.

In the rich musical life of early 18th century Prague, the Advent and Christmas seasons formed a chapter unto themselves. Their specific repertoire consisted not only of the themes of this liturgical season (including a strong element of the Marian cult), but also of special liturgical and musical forms. In both songs and figural music Czech suddenly appeared side by side with Latin, along with elements of folk religion and culture.

During the summer of 1989, oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi together with bassoonist Alberto Grazzi founded Zefiro, a versatile ensemble specialized in 18th century music predominantly featuring wind instruments. Zefiro soon made a name for itself worldwide, and to celebrate its thirty years of activity Arcana is releasing an elegant 10-CD set of their complete recordings of baroque music. From the ensemble’s first disc (Sonatas by Zelenka - Grand Prix du Disque), the compilation alternates recordings of repertoire composers and pieces that have become absolute points of reference, such as the Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos, Handel’s Fireworks (Diapason d’or de l’année 2009) or the Bach Overtures (judged by Gramaphone to be one of the 50 best Bach recordings of all time).

This disc recycles some performances by the German historical-instrument group Virtuosi Saxoniae, originally issued between 1986 and 1995. As such, it improves not only on most of the budget compilations issued by the label involved, Berlin Classics, but on the majority of such compilations in general. The same group is involved all the way through, for one thing; there are different vocal soloists, but the interpretive environment is consistent. More important, the compilation rearranges the original material into something new and interesting. The selection of music turns on the double use of the sentence "Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" (Glory to God on high, and peace on earth to people of good will), unfortunately mistranslated in the English booklet notes, although the German is correct. The utterance is given by Luke as that of the Host above the stable in Bethlehem after the birth of Christ; it is also more general, opening the Gloria of the Catholic Mass. The selection of Baroque works here accordingly brings together pieces of various types. There are big settings of the Gloria, either freestanding like the well-known Gloria in D major, RV 589, by Vivaldi, or taken from missae breves or full-length masses.

A printed version of the Motets for 2 or 3 voices Op. 4 was published in Bologna in 1715. Although Caldara was at this time still in the services of Marquis Ruspoli, he dedicated this collection to Cardinal Ottoboni who had gained a wide-ranging reputation as a patron of music during the previous decades. Caldara was appointed as imperial assistant music director in Vienna in 1716. As the favourite composer of Charles VI, Caldara was entrusted with the regular production of music for representative events at the imperial court for the remainder of his life.

Following Ensemble Caprice’s first recording of Vivaldi’s sacred music (Gloria! Vivaldi and his Angels) we return to Vivaldi’s Venice and find ourselves yet again within the confines of the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage where, beginning in 1703, Vivaldi, the Red Priest, not only taught the orphan girls violin and singing, but also composed many of his most dazzling concertos as well as a substantial part of his highly inspired corpus of sacred music.