Mitis

Whatever the elusive truth may be regarding the ‘Englishness' of these 'Six Suittes avec leurs Preludes', there is no denying the imagination of the keyboard writing. Each Suite is headed by a Prelude of substantial proportions, followed by wonderfully varied dance movements, all perfectly suited to showcase the joyful brilliance of Richard Egarr's harpsichord skill.

The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune.
The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba player fr:Philippe Pierlot. The initial repertoire was focussed on the German Baroque, and the Consort was closely identified with the series Deutsche Barock Kantaten. In recordings and concerts the Consort was joined by baroque specialist singers including; Greta de Reyghere, Agnès Mellon, countertenors Henri Ledroit, James Bowman tenor Guy de Mey and bass Max van Egmond, as well as the cornett player Jean Tubéry.

Johann Sebastian Bach - Keyboard Concertos Nos. 3, 5-7
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields / Murray Perahia
SACD ISO (Stereo): 2,16 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 917 MB | Artwork
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # SS 89690 | Country/Year: Europe 2002 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

"Perahia doing Bach, as Perahia does Bach: very clean and very smooth. Very un-Gould. If Gould uses the piano to try and emulate the detached sound of a harpsichord (always sans pedal), Perahia is almost the opposite. Having said so, the sound Perahia achieves in the second movement (largo) of Concerto No. 5 (BWV 1056) is simply fabulous … one of my favourite piano sounds on SACD (after the Tchetuev Schnittke SACD on Caro Mitis). Beautifully recorded. Perahia's Goldberg variations on SACD is now almost impossible to find, and this SACD seems to be heading the same way, so grab it while you can. Highly recommended." ~sa-cd.net

This ‘themed’ programme by Da Pacem derives from a series of concerts devoted to Bach’s infamous journey on foot to hear Buxtehude play. Did he have leave of absence from his employers? Did the four month absence change his style for ever? Buxtehude achieved a staggering synthesis of the polyphonic, numerical and rhetorical traditions of his predecessors with a very personal poetry, taking care to make his music accessible to everyone, from the specialist to the layman. It is not surprising that Bach took him as his model.

Joseph Wölfl, once a popular composer and pianist, hailed from Salzburg. When Wölfl was born in 1773 his brilliant countryman Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was employed by the archbishop of Salzburg…

Little is known about the life of Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (ca.1745–1777). Almost no documentary material has survived, and biographies of the composer published in the 19th century were for the most part based on conjecture and supposition. His tragic demise, exceptional talent and short life might seem a compelling plot for romantic fiction. A novella by Nestor Kukolnik appeared in the 1840s and a play by Peter Smirnov was staged at the Alexandrine Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg.

François-André Danican Philidor started his musical career as a boy chorister in the Chapelle Royal at Versailles. Taught by Campra, his first motet was performed there in 1738. At the same time as he was building his career in music, Philidor acquired considerable ability as a chess player, and in the 1740s he could regularly be found playing opponents such as Voltaire and Rousseau in the Café de la Régence.