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The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin kickstarts their Handel trilogy with this recording of the first six concerti grossi op. 6. Originally designed as attractive interludes to English oratorio performances, Handel’s concerti grossi soon gained fame as the most appealing orchestral music of the baroque era. Written in London in 1739, towards the end of his career, Handel paid tribute to the immensely popular concerti grossi of Corelli while simultaneously proving his mastery incorporating all musical styles of his times.

In 1832 German-born Friedrich Burgmüller settled in Paris where he became internationally admired for his salon pieces and studies. At a time when demand for new teaching material had reached unprecedented heights, he supplied a sequence of works that appealed to the amateur market by virtue of their musical interest and appropriate technical demands. Written for the burgeoning market for piano teaching material, the set of 25 Easy and Progressive Studies, Op. 100 was soon followed by the 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109, a continuation of the earlier set, each piece bearing a charming title. They continue to provide a basis for teaching to this day.

In 1832 German-born Friedrich Burgmüller settled in Paris where he became internationally admired for his salon pieces and studies. At a time when demand for new teaching material had reached unprecedented heights, he supplied a sequence of works that appealed to the amateur market by virtue of their musical interest and appropriate technical demands. Written for the burgeoning market for piano teaching material, the set of 25 Easy and Progressive Studies, Op. 100 was soon followed by the 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109, a continuation of the earlier set, each piece bearing a charming title. They continue to provide a basis for teaching to this day.

Polished, historically informed accounts of little-known trio sonatas from the high noon of the Italian Baroque. ‘The playing is of a high order,’ observed Early Music World when reviewing Labirinti Armonici’s debut on Brilliant Classics (BC95718), with the Op.2 Sonatas of Francesco Antonio Bonporti: ‘the overall effect is of a highly professional group at home with the repertoire. So little of Bonporti’s works have been recorded to the highest standards; let us hope this is a start of a revival!’ Such hopes are answered here by a second disc, which returns to the set of sonatas da Chiesa which first made Bonporti’s name when they were published in 1696. Corelli, no less, is said to have instructed him in violin playing, though Bonporti regarded himself as primarily a priest rather than a composer.

After the Second Piano Concerto (Alpha 395), Nelson Goerner presents here his first solo Brahms recital with the Sonata op.5, a youthful composition that is ‘impetuous, full of ardour and vitality’, says Goerner, ‘but which requires an interpreter who has reached maturity in his or her development to express all that it contains’.
In fact, the Argentinian pianist has had this sonata in his repertory since the start of his career and has played it extensively in concert. Many composers have taken an interest in Paganini and written variations on his famous theme: Liszt before Brahms, and Rachmaninoff and Lutosławski after him. ‘ Brahms displays exuberant invention in his Variations, which are at once highly virtuosic and very profound, and above all overflowing with imagination. Brahms gives the name “Études” to these variations which, like the études of Chopin and Liszt, go far beyond the superficially off-putting nature of the title’, concludes the pianist. ‘It’s a marvel of inventiveness!’

Nearly every music lover is acquainted with Der Freischutz, but the fewest are aware of Euryanthe. In the light of the musical quality of the opera, the disdain for it does not seem fitting. Euryanthe was Carl Maria von Webers most ambitious project, one that anything but backfired. The composition may certainly be termed ground-breaking and truly deserves more attention. A chain of glittering jewels from the beginning to the end. All witty and ingenious, (Robert Schumann in his critic about Euryanthe.) The presnt release features a live recording of the work, which was taken in December of 2018 and features the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and the Orf Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as a group of brilliant soloists.

After the Second Piano Concerto (Alpha 395), Nelson Goerner presents here his first solo Brahms recital with the Sonata op.5, a youthful composition that is ‘impetuous, full of ardour and vitality’, says Goerner, ‘but which requires an interpreter who has reached maturity in his or her development to express all that it contains’.

Another chapter in the rediscovery of an 18th-century master by Brilliant Classics. While the music of this Rimini-born violinist, composer and publisher has been excerpted and recorded on several albums, Brilliant Classics is assembling a uniquely comprehensive overview of a figure much esteemed in his lifetime for music that sparkles like the Venetian lagoons, yet has been almost completely forgotten until recently.

After the success of the Red, Yellow, Blue and Pink collections (a total of fifty-six reissues), which brought the pearls from the Baroque catalogues of the house labels back into the spotlight, here are fourteen new titles offering a chance to rediscover more Baroque treasures and rarities. Like the last series, this fifth instalment also opens up to the Classical (Mozart) or Renaissance (Dufay) repertories – recordings that are an integral part of Alpha’s identity and history.