The Band Academy of Music

Led by Christopher Hogwood, the Academy of Ancient Music has made many renowned recordings of Handel's music-particularly the oratorios. The beloved Messiah heads up this 8-CD set, followed by Esther; La Resurezzione , and, making its return to the international catalog after an absence of several years, the 1985 recording of Athalia -with none other than Joan Sutherland in the title role! Recorded in London, 1979-85.

One of the leading experts in early music, Christopher Hogwood, leads the way as you hear the beautiful 17th-century theatre music of British composer Henry Purcell. The Academy of Ancient Music and the Taverner Choir perform Abdelazer; The Married Beau; Bonduca; Circe; Don Quixote; The Double Dealer; The Rival Sisters , and much more!

This is the second recording which the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has made of Handel's 12 Concerti grossi, Op. 6. The first was directed by Neville Marriner whereas the new one is directed by Iona Brown. handel assembled his twelve ''grand concertos'', as he called them, during the autumn of 1739 and they were published by subscription in the following year. Their stylistic terms of reference are marvellously diverse and, in this respect they represent an apotheosis of what had become, by the 1730s, an old-fashioned form of concerto writing on the continent. Variety in form, ingenuity of thought and Handel's own unmistakeable personality ensure that in no other sense can these satisfying concertos be regarded as archaic.

Celebrating the 300th anniversary of Handel's great Brockes-Passion: a long-neglected masterpiece by this most brilliant composer, from a libretto by his friend, Barthold Brockes, one of Germanys leading poets. The culmination of two years of scholarly research by a team of scholars and musicologists from the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, King's College London, Open University and more, working alongside Music Director Richard Egarr and editor Leo Duarte. Consulting 15 manuscript sources from 11 collections in 5 countries, this is the most substantial edition of this work yet, including as appendices extra movements and Charles Jennens' partial English translation in their world premiere recordings.

With various record labels compiling complete works to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Bach, EMI's more accessible approach is this luxurious anthology of the Baroque master's sacred music. Over two and a half hours, this program encompasses the grand scale of the Magnificat in D (BWV 243) and Missa Brevis in A (BWV 234). Between these are scared cantatas, the very popular choral Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140) contrasting with sensitive solo vocal writing in Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (BWV 12); motets; arias; and an organ prelude and fugue. It's a well-balanced program, covering every aspect of Bach's church music except the Passions.

Happy the couples for whom Bach wrote wedding cantatas! BWV 202 and BWV 210 are two of his most attractive and charming works. BWV 202, the earlier and shorter of the pair, evokes the joys of both spring and true love in a succession of lively dance tunes, while BWV 210’s tongue-in-cheek account of music’s effect on lovers includes five exquisite arias, not least the teasing lullaby ‘Ruhet hie’. Emma Kirkby sings these cantatas – plus three songs from Anna Magdalena’s music-book – with a natural fluency and grace that is always engaging, despite a few uncomfortable moments in the highest registers.

Recorded before Sir Stephen Cleobury’s untimely passing in November 2019, King’s College presents a new account of one of the greatest masterpieces in sacred music, Bach’s St Matthew Passion. For this recording Cleobury led the King’s Choir and the Academy of Ancient Music alongside some of the most outstanding British singers performing today, headed by one of the finest Evangelists of our time, James Gilchrist. The album is accompanied by a booklet with over 60 pages of texts and photographs, including a full translation by Michael Marissen and a specially-commissioned essay by John Butt.

Andrew Manze is not only a superb violinist – check out his Biber sonatas – but also a superb music director. Since taking over the calcified old Academy of Ancient Music and bringing the group with him to Harmonia Mundi, he has produced a stunning series of recordings: a couple of Vivaldi discs, a wonderful set of Handel's Opus 6 concertos, a sublime disc of the Bach concertos. Now they have released Geminiani's Concerto Grossi after Corelli's Op. 5, and it is their best yet.