Telemann Hermann Max

We tend to think of Johann Mattheson (1681–1764) as a theorist first and foremost, and as a composer almost as an afterthought. To be sure, he competed in a world in Hamburg that at one time or another featured Reinhard Keiser, Georg Philipp Telemann, and George Frederick Handel; indeed, all of these were friends, sometimes rivals, and in one case, he and Handel even fought a duel over an opera, Cleopatra (Mattheson would have won, but a metal coat button deflected his sword, fortunately both for posterity and Handel). As a singer, he was well regarded, but by 1705 he had traded his performance chops for a real job as private secretary to the English ambassador.

Although frequently classified as an oratorio, C. P. E. Bach's Auferstehung und Himmeelfahrt Jesu is really a cantata. There are no named dramatis personae and it is evident from Emanuel Bach's own comments that he intended the work to have a partly didactic function. He also considered it, in his own words as "pre-eminent among all my vocal works in expression and in the composition". The author of the text was Karl Wilhelm Ramler, an important poet of the German Enlightenment whose texts had earlier attracted Telemann. Ramler and Bach engaged in a close collaboration over the Auferstehung and between Bach's setting of it in 1774 and the eventual publication by Breitkopf in 1787, composer and poet entered into a lively correspondence concerning the details and shape of the cantata. The first performance took place in Hamburg in 1778 when it was warmly received. Many subsequent performances were given culminating in three directed by Mozart in Vienna.

Jean-Pierre Rampal - The Complete Erato Recordings Vol I. 1954-1963 (2015) {10CD Box Set Erato-Warner Classics 0825646190447}
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© 2015 Erato / Warner Classics | 0825646190447
Classical / Chamber Music / Flute

Ushering in a new golden era for the flute as solo instrument, Jean-Pierre Rampal secured his place in the classical music firmament as the greatest flautist of the modern era. Over 25 years (1954-1982), the French virtuoso’s fruitful collaboration with Erato grew into a truly exceptional achievement in recording history: an encyclopedia of flute music in vital performances that have remained the benchmark for generations. The first complete reissue of these recordings represents the most important collection ever dedicated to a single flautist. After all, it was Jean-Pierre Rampal that taught us to love the flute.

Various Artists - Orgels In Nederland - Dutch Organs 1511-1896 (2005) {20CD Box Set De Banier-Stemra 9033605619}
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© 2005 De Banier / Stemra | 9033605619
Classical / Organ Music

Unique! That is how the CD-box ‘Orgels in Nederland | Dutch organs’ can be described. An extensive project containing a book and some CDs, put together by Okke Dijkhuizen who participated in the organ recordings for EO radio many years. One hundred recordings of monumental big organs and also of some smaller and less known instruments. The book (both in Dutch and English) contains a general introduction of the organs, as well as some historical facts and the disposition of the recorded instruments. The editor has aimed at a diversity of organ-builders as big as possible and a balanced regional representation. The result is a fascinating selection, for lovers of organs a ‘partner for life’. Book (Dutch and English), 288 pages incl. 20 CDs.

The Goldberg Variations stands as one of the greatest keyboard works ever written. Composed for a two-manual harpsichord, its universal musical language and distinct voicing has made it a popular subject for arrangement, including those for two pianos by Joseph Rheinberger, for woodwind quartet by Andrei Eshpai, for organ by Jean Guillou, and for solo guitar by József Eötvös, as well as the brilliantly re-imagined Gilded Goldbergs by Robin Holloway.