Ton Koopman

The Fitzwilliam Virginal book is one of the primary sources of keyboard music. The book, which is now housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, hails from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England. + This release features excerpts from the Fitzwilliam Virginal book from composers including Giovanni Picchi, Orlando Gibbons, John Bull, William Bird, and more. + Dutch conductor, organist, and harpsichordist Ton Koopman performs the works on this album. He was knighted in 2003, receiving the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and is currently a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

This album attempt to show how Leopold Mozart could have influenced his well-known son Wolfgang Amadeus by placing the most famous works of Leopold Mozart against the early works of Wolfgang Amadeus. These works are performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra led by Ton Koopman, and Tini Mathot on pianoforte. One side note, while Die Bauernhochzeit and Cassatio ex ("toy symphony") are considered to be works by Leopold Mozart by the creators of this album, others argue the "toy symphony" must have been composed by Joseph Haydn or Edmund Angerer. There is little consensus within the musicological debate.

"What is striking in the Symphonies 97 en 98 are the beautiful slow movements: Haydn again shows us that he is the master of our feelings. The menuets are catchingly dansant, the trios are refreshing. The first movements of these symphonies start with - as often is the case with Haydn- with a short, slow introduction and directly after that they burst into a fast tempo full of joyfulness and inventiveness. He makes simple themes develop into masterworks in an unsurpassed way. The closing movements, fast in character and starting off with only the strings, are astonishing because of their vitality and structure. Haydn is at his best in the 12 London Symphonies."

Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman, known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.

Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman, known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.

The version is excellent, very well recorded and Koopman offers an accurate reading without falling into the rigid excesses of some German interpreters or a certain "softness" of some English.