Georg Friedrich Händel - Vespro per la Madonna del Carmelo

Georg Friedrich Händel - Vespro per la Madonna del Carmelo
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  Classic Voice| Recorded: 2008 & 2009 | Released: 2009
Collegium Apollineum (on period instruments) - Marco Feruglio

This reconstruction is not actually based on real evidences, rather it is a combination of some Handel's psalms, motets and antifonas written around the same time (the year 1707) and ordered in a way that resembles the Vespers practice of the time. 

The booklet is entirely in italian but you don't need it to enjoy Handel's music.

The tracklist is as it follows

- Dixit Dominus (Salmo 109) per 2 Soprani, Alto, Coro e Orchestra, HWV 232

- Laudate pueri Dominum (Salmo 112) per Soprano, Coro e Orchestra, HWV 237

- Te decus virgineum (Antifona) per Alto e Orchestra, HWV 243

- Nisi Dominus (Salmo 126) per Alto, Tenore, Doppio Coro e Orchestra, HWV 238 

- Haec est Regina virginum (Antifona) per Soprano e Orchestra, HWV 235
- Saeviat tellus inter rigores ('Mottetto per la Madonna Santissima del Carmine') per Soprano e Orchestra, HWV 240

- Salve Regina (Antifona) per Soprano, Organo concertante e Orchestra, HWV 241

Joseph Eybler - Die vier letzten Dinge

Joseph Eybler - Dier vier letzten Dinge
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CPO | Recorded: 2003 | Released: 2005
Rheinische Kantorei - Das Kleine Konzert - Hermann Max

Joseph Eybler (Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler to give you the full name) belongs to that unfortunate group of composers who were popular and musically influential while alive but have vanished from the spotlight to become mere historical footnotes. Although Eybler showed early promise as a pianist, he began studying law. However, the family’s fortune was lost when their home burned and it was necessary to abandon law studies and earn his way as a musician. He studied under Albrechtsberger (teacher to Beethoven and Hummel) and Joseph Haydn, to whom he was distantly related. Through Haydn, Eybler met Mozart, who offered further musical instruction. Mozart was so impressed with Eybler’s skills that Eybler assisted with coaching the singers in, and later conducting performances of Cosi fan tutte. Mozart’s widow, Constanze selected Eybler to complete the Requiem after her husband’s death. Speculation continues to surround Eybler’s contribution to the Requiem. It has long been held that Eybler returned the manuscript to Constanze and the work was completed by Süβmayr, but recent research raises the possibility that Eybler and Franz Jakob Freystéädtler were, in fact, involved. In 1792, Eybler was appointed choir director at the Carmelite Church. Two years later, he became choir director at the Vienna Schottenkloster, a post he held for 30 years, until he replaced Salieri as Court Kapellmeister. Eybler began serving as court music teacher in 1810; a number of his compositions, including Die vier letzten Dinge, were written as part of his courtly duties. Emperor Francis commissioned Eybler to compose an oratorio for his wife, Empress Maria Theresa. The 1810 premiere of Die vier letzten Dinge (“The Four Last Things”) was a private performance for the imperial family, but soon a public performance in Vienna was arranged by the Tonkünstler-Societät. The work is divided into three parts depicting the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the blessed. Die vier letzten Dinge was part of the emerging German-language oratorio tradition begun in the later part of the 18th century and established by such works as Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten. Eybler had previously contributed to this genre in 1794 with his German-language Christmas oratorio Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem (“The Shepherds at the Crib in Bethlehem”).
Die vier letzten Dinge is best in the orchestral and choral portions that lean more toward the emerging Romantic style rather than looking back to the Classic. A very atmospheric and interesting overture depicting fear at the end of the world, followed by a fugue for Chorus of the Angels, opens the work. The invention Eybler displays in the orchestral and the choral numbers is so superior to the solo numbers it’s a shame there aren’t more. The bulk of the oratorio is assigned to the three singers (soprano, tenor, and bass) who have a series of arias, two duets, and two terzettes. Ample recitative precedes many of these numbers. The recitatives are mostly accompanied and infused with enough melody so they often flow smoothly into the numbers. Typical of this genre is a massive amount of music attached to rather brief texts with little conversation between the characters, who offer sermons to humankind and prayers to God. The first two sections are darker and more portentous than the brighter third section. A few of the transitions are rather blunt, such as the chorus that concludes with “The thunder rolls—Jehovah comes!” immediately followed by the terzett “Jehovah, in your mildness.”
This is not a rare gem rediscovered, nor is it deserving of the obscurity it has suffered for nearly 200 years. There is enough musical meat here to warrant interest and an occasional listen. The work is another example of good music grafted onto a text of lesser merit. The performers on this cpo recording make a good case for the work. It is a studio recording with excellent sound. At present, this is the only recording of Die vier letzten Dinge available (cpo has also recorded Eybler’s Christmas Oratorio—see Fanfare 23:6). Fortunately, it does the work justice and can be recommended without reservation. It will probably be of interest to devotees of early 19th-century German oratorios, collectors of musical rarities, or fans of the artists.
David L. Kirk, FANFARE

Franz Joseph Haydn - Complete String Quartets

Franz Joseph Haydn - Complete String Quartets
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Festetics Quartets (on period instruments)

Not many string quartets play on period instruments, perhaps because the public for this music is not familiar with their sound, but also because much of the string quartet repertoire goes beyond the period that these instruments usually cover. The Festetics is one of the few top-rank quartets that does use such instruments, and has focused on the late 18th and early 19th century repertoire - Haydn, Schubert and Mozart - though they have also recorded works by other composers, such as Liszt.

There is a noticeable difference in the sound of this ensemble when comparing it with other quartets. The instruments are more trenchant, the sound is more limpid, and the texture less homogeneous. It is far easier for such an ensemble to create a sound of four instruments interacting, as opposed to a unitary sound that is a mixture of those instruments.

Some reviews

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/jun02/Haydn_Festetics.htm

http://www.classicstoday.com/digest/pdigest.asp?perfidx=45421

I ripped this whole set some time ago and since then I saw it floating in the web.

Luigi Tomasini - Baryton Trios

Luigi Tomasini - Baryton Trios
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CPO | Recorded: 2003 | Released: 2004
Esterhazy Ensemble

The baryton resembles a bass viol and can be played with a bow at the front while simultaneously being plucked from the back, the resulting sound having quite an unusual resonance for a solo instrument. The instrument was popular in areas of Austria and south Germany at periodic intervals between the mid-17th and early 19th century, and works for the instrument have been composed by Haydn and Leopold Mozart among others. Tomasini was primarily a violinst but also a composer of chamber music in the court of Prince Nikolaus von Esterhazy, in which he served as a musician for much of his life alongside Haydn. Haydn’s influence on Tomasini is clear, and working for a music patron as devoted as Prince Nikolaus helped the musical output of both artists to flourish. Prince Nikolaus was a firm fan and indeed talented performer of the baryton, and consquently both Haydn and Tomasini composed several works for the instrument, the former having composed over 175 such works. Appropriately, the Esterhazy Ensemble give fantastic performances of these trios. They are among the ensemble’s favourite pieces to perform due to their huge range of inventiveness and crowd-pleasing instrumental acrobatics. The ensemble dedicates itself particularly to the baryton repertoire, and are lucky enough to have in their possession the only copy of the prince’s instrument, on which these works are performed

”

Franz Xaver Brixi - Organ Concertos

Franz Xaver Brixi - Organ Concertos
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Brilliant Classics | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2006
Christian Schmitt - European Chamber Soloists - Nicol Matt

This is a first class offering. Not only do we get to listen to excellent Czech music, we get to hear it in exceptional digital sound.
Brixi's concerti move along efficiently from one idea to the next and Chrsitian Schmitt's choice of the Weimbs organ in Cologne and the European Chamber Soloists led by Nicol Matt are the perfect compliment.
Phrasing, balance and just the right amount of anticipation keeps these works interesting. It's not as if all involved are teetering on the brink of dull interpretation, contrarily, if we expected more than what these musicians give us the music would be disastrous. Pensive, delightful, regal, Brixi's concerti are simple compositions that are easy and fun to listen to.
My favorites are the 1st and 8th concerti that Brixi scored with tympani.
As I mentioned above, the recorded sound by Reinhard Geller is first class. How he captured the musicians' sound in this wonderful acoustic is breathtaking. Brilliant Classics has done wonders reissuing but its original productions such as this Brixi compilation are simply astounding.
This is wonderful acquisition for anyone who's familiar with the organ concerti of Handel and Haydn. 

Despite it being an old old rip I checked the files with foobar-accuraterip plugin and they resulted accurate (confidence 2).

Jan Ladislav Dussek - Piano Trios

Jan Ladislav Dussek - Piano Trios
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CPO | Recorded: 1998 | Released: 2000
Trio 1790 (on period instruments)

Jan Dussek's music is mostly overlooked by today's general public, largely because much of it seems to pander to long-outdated tastes. These five Sonatas for piano, violin, and cello won't do much to alter that perspective, but they nonetheless deserve attention as examples of the work of a respected contemporary of Beethoven, Haydn, and C.P.E. Bach, who was a well-travelled and brilliant keyboardist and composer. The music is nearly on the level of Beethoven's Op. 1 trios in formal sophistication, but without the emotional intensity. Melodies are noticeably "lighter", technical demands less challenging. However, the use of period instruments by the fine musicians of Trio 1790 sheds light on these pieces that reveals some rather charming qualities.

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=2755

Francesco Antonio Vallotti - Lamentazioni per la Settimana Santa

Francesco Antonio Vallotti - Lamentazioni per la Settimana Santa
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Amadeus Elite | Recorded: 2009 | Released: 2010
Ensemble Festa Rustica (on period instruments) - Giorgio Matteoli
PREMIERE WORLD RECORDING

 

Rosita Frisani, soprano
Marco Lazzara, contralto
Mario Nuvoli, tenore
Gianluca Buratto, basso
ENSEMBLE FESTA RUSTICA con strumenti originali
GIORGIO MATTEOLI, violoncello solo e direzione 

Schubert / Cramer - Piano Quintets

Schubert / Cramer - Piano Quintets
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Brilliant Classics | Recorded: 2007 | Released: 2009
Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet (on period instruments)

The Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet is a period-instrument ensemble dedicated to music composed for the combination of instruments made famous (but not devised) by Schubert for his ‘Trout’ Quintet: evergreen as that work is, the sublime masterpiece in its genre, it was preceded and followed by a number of other such works by composers including Hummel (after whom the ensemble is named) and Cramer, ‘Glorious John’ Cramer who was so celebrated a fixture of London musical life and its beau-monde in the early decades of the 19th century. Cramer’s Piano Quintet was composed in 1832, five years after Schubert’s death, and its first performance featured the legendary bassist Domenico Dragonetti. Its grand, urbane manner reflects the surroundings of its composition just as the countryside of Upper Austria does the ‘Trout’ Quintet, which was written in the small town of Steyr, lodging with a local lawyer and apparently availing himself of the charms of at least some of the eight young ladies also in the house.

- Franz Schubert: Quintet for Piano and Strings in A major, D 667/Op. 114 "Trout"
- John Baptist Cramer: Quintet for Piano and Strings in B flat major, Op 79

Hummel / Dussek / Onslow - Piano Quintets

Hummel / Dussek / Onslow - Piano Quintets
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Brilliant Classics | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2006
Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet (on period instruments)

Hummel, Onslow and Dussek: maybe you have not heard of any of them. But looking at their dates of these ‘small masters’ one may notice their common denominator. 1778-1837, 1784- 1853, 1760-1812: in short, they are all comtemporaries of Beethoven (1770-1827). All three of them , but especially Johann Nepomuk Hummel, were piano virtuosos who composed as well.

It is not by chance that the name of the Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet refers to the composer Hummel. The ensemble consists of piano, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass. This unusual combination is similar to the one Schubert later used for his Trout Quintet. Since their foundation in 1999 the musicians specialize in performing such music on period instruments.

The three quintets on this CD have a classical form and have a pleasant optimism in common. Extremely clear, sparkling and contagious performances by this Dutch ensemble. This is how this music should sound. A beautiful sonorous recording.

The Ducth classical music magazine Luister (March 2007) awarded this CD with top marks: 10. 

- Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano Quintet in E-flat minor Op.87
- Jan Ladislav Dussek: Quintet in F minor Op.41
- George Onslow: Quintet in G major Op.76

Richter / Stamitz / Filtz / Cannabich - Concertos of the Mannheim School

Richter / Stamitz / Filtz / Cannabich - Concertos of the Mannheim School
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Archiv Produktion | Released: 2008
Camerata Bern - Thomas Furi

Aurele Nicolet, flute
Thomas Furi, violin
Thomas Demenga, cello
Heinz Holliger, oboe
Manfred Sax, bassoon

Camerata Bern
Thomas Furi

Franz Xaver Richter
Konzert für Flöte und Streichorchester e-moll -- 1: Allegro moderato
Konzert für Flöte und Streichorchester e-moll -- 2: Andantino
Konzert für Flöte und Streichorchester e-moll -- 3: Allegro, non troppo presto

Johann Stamitz
Konzert für Violine und Streichorchester C-dur -- 1: Allegro non molto
Konzert für Violine und Streichorchester C-dur -- 2: Adagio
Konzert für Violine und Streichorchester C-dur -- 3: Allegro

Anton Filtz
Konzert für Violoncello und Streichorchester G-dur -- 1: Allegro moderato
Konzert für Violoncello und Streichorchester G-dur -- 2: Andante
Konzert für Violoncello und Streichorchester G-dur -- 3: Presto non troppo

Christian Cannabich
Sinfonia concertante A-dur -- Allegro assai moderato 

Anton Eberl - Quintets & Trio

Anton Eberl - Quintets & Trio
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CPO | Recorded: 2005 | Released: 2007
Consortium Classicum

It could be said that Anton Eberl was Beethoven’s most important and significant rival in Vienna in the field of instrumental music.

Born in Vienna in 1765, Eberl established early contact with Mozart and they remained friends throughout his life. After a few relatively unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold as an opera composer in Vienna, Eberl went to the Tsar’s court in St. Petersburg, where he mainly taught piano. In 1799 he settled permanently in Vienna, turned to the composition of instrumental music for orchestra and for the chamber hall, and suddenly gained public acceptance as a composer of great merit.

Already in 1802 he was ranked together with Beethoven: “Both have freshness, fire, and power, both are overflowing with ideas, and both are distinguished by a great amount of genius.” raved a nineteenth-century music critic.

Once again, CPO engage Consortium Classicum to perform this delightful works: “Consortium Classicum's performances couldn't be bettered” praised Classics Today on CPO 9997412

- Grand Quintetto Op. 41 in G minor for Piano, Clarinet, Two Violas & Violoncello

- Grand Trio Op. 36 in E flat major for Piano, Clarinet & Violoncello

- Quintuor brilliant Op. 48 in C major for Piano, Oboe, Violin, Viola & Violoncello

Michael Haydn - Incidental music to Zaire - Notturni

Michael Haydn - Incidental music to Zaire - Notturni
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CPO | Recorded & Released: 1997
Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss - Johannes Goritzki

"Turkish" music was all the rage in the late 18th century. Mozart and Haydn composed their quota of it, the most famous examples being Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio and Haydn's Military Symphony. "Turkish" or "janissary" music usually featured exotic harmonies and extra percussion in the orchestra--bass drum, cymbals, and triangle. This delicious disc contains music by the Haydn's younger brother, Michael, who took over Mozart's job in Salzburg after the archbishop kicked him out. It's a perky, expertly written suite of movements that will fascinate anyone interested in good, unusual music in the classical style. Haydn's older brother would have been proud. --David Hurwitz

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Complete Violin Sonatas

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Complete Violin Sonatas
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ACCENT | Recorded: 1991-2005 | Released: 2006
Sigiswald Kuijken - Luc Devos (on period instruments)

Franz Joseph Haydn - The Creation (Die Schopfung)

Franz Joseph Haydn - The Creation (Die Schopfung)
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NAXOS | Recorded: 2003 | Released: 2005
VokalEnsemble Koln - Capella Augustina - Andreas Spering

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=8796

Antonio Sacchini - Oedipe à Colone

Antonio Sacchini - Oedipe à Colone
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Naxos | Recorded: 2005 | Released: 2006
Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus - Ryan Brown

 

Antonio Sacchini was one of the leading composers of Italian opera seria of the late 18th century. Oedipe à Colone, his last work, was extraordinarily successful, with regular performances at the Paris Opéra between 1787 and 1844. Based on Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus at Colonus, the second item in a trilogy that is one of the glories of Greek literature, Sacchini’s opera is notable for both its high drama and tender, moving lyricism. It was championed by Berlioz who considered it to be an inspired and even sublime work.

Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen - 6 Violin Concertos Op.3

Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen - 6 Violin Concertos Op.3
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Hungaroton | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2007
Savaria Baroque Orchestra - Piroska Vitárius (violin) - Pál NÉMETH

A woman composer in 18th century Italy? Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen (1745–1818) wrote concertos, and they are an exciting discovery not just because they make us see more fully the European world of Haydn and Mozart, but because they also afford a glimpse into the life of Italy’s orphanages for girls.

The six violin concertos Opus3 were composed at the end of the 1760s or beginning of the 1770s, and display the influence of Tartini. They were published by Napier in London and by Hummel in Amsterdam in 1772-3. As usual in concertos after Vivaldi, a lyrical slow movement is framed by two fast ones. The works are elegant and graceful, bearing features of the early classical style.

NOT MY RIP, THANKS TO THE ORIGINAL UPLOADER

Josef Myslivecek - Complete Wind Quintets & Octets

Josef Myslivecek - Complete Wind Quintets & Octets
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CPO | Recorded: 2007 | Released: 2010
L'Orfeo Bläserensemble - Carin van Heerden

Niccolò Piccinni - Le donne vendicate

Niccolò Piccinni - Le donne vendicate (libretto by Carlo Goldoni)
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Chandos/Chaconne | Recorded: 1999 | Released: 2004
I Barocchisti (on period instruments) - Diego Fasolis

 Chandos’ previous disc from Diego Fasolis was highly praised.

This is the only available recording of Le donne vendicate.

Niccolò Piccinni was a prolific and popular composer, writing some 120 operas in Naples, Rome, and in Paris, where he was singing tutor to Marie Antoinette. Unintentionally he became mixed up in the famous Querelle surrounding the operas of Gluck, which prompted the management of the Opéra to commission a setting of Iphigénie en Tauride from both composers. In time, Gluck’s proved more successful, and thus contributed to his greater reputation; however, Piccinni’s lively and tuneful work enjoyed an extraordinary degree of popularity in his day.
This ‘little farce’ – as it is identified in the dedication accompanying the libretto – consists of two intermezzi composed by Niccolò Piccinni to a text taken from Goldoni. The original text by the Venetian dramatist had already appeared in 1751 with music by another composer but even in projects that represented reworkings, Piccinni’s rapport with Goldoni is of fundamental importance in his output. 

Niccolo Piccinni (1728-1800)

Le donne vendicate 103:21
The Revenge of the Women
Musical intermezzi for four voices in two parts
Libretto after Carlo Goldoni
First performed in the Teatro alla Valle, Rome during Carnival of the year 1763
Critical edition by Francesco Luisi
A production of ReteDue della Radio Svizzera di lingua italiani

Vincenzo Di Donato tenor - Count Bellezza
Giuliana Castellani soprano - Lindora
Mauro Buda baritone - Ferramonte
Sylva Pozzer soprano - Aurelia
Varous non-speaking characters
The action takes place in and around a pretty country villa near Bologna.
I Barocchisti
Diego Fasolis
Recorded in:
Auditorio Stelio Molo, Lugano, Switzerland
25-30 September 1999
Producer(s)
Carlo Piccardi (Executive)
Gian Andrea Lodovici (Executive)
Giuseppe Clericetti (Recording)
Sound Engineer(s)
Ulrich Ruscher
Format: DDD
Bit Rate: 24 Bit / 96K

Franz Joseph Haydn - Acide, Festa Teatrale

Franz Joseph Haydn - Acide, Festa Teatrale
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BIS | Recorded: 2008 | Released: 2009
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien (on period instruments) - Manfred Huss

This recording includes the composer’s later additions for a planned but never realised second production in 1773

BIS is proud to release a rarely (if ever) recorded fragment of Haydn’s opera Acide which was composed for the celebrations of the wedding of Count Anton Esterházy and Countess Maria Theresia Erdödy, and performed at the Esterházy residence at Eisenstadt on 11th January 1763. The Italian libretto, by G. A. Migliavacca, retells the well-known episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the nymph Galatea witnesses the death of her lover Acis (Acide) at the hands of the cyclops Polyphemus. Four arias and most of the recitatives from the original 1763 version of Acide have been lost, but complementing the remaining numbers are two arias and a recitative composed by Haydn for a planned second production in 1773.

BIS SACD BISSACD1812

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)

Acide – Festa teatrale (opera fragment, Hob.XXVIII:1)

Bernard Richter, Acide
Raffaella Milanesi, Galatea
Jennifer O’Loughlin, Glauce
Iván Paley, Polifemo & Nettuno
Adrineh Simonian, Tetide
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Manfred Huss

Domenico Cimarosa - Atene Edificata

Domenico Cimarosa - Atene Edificata (libretto by Ferdinando Moretti)
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Bongiovanni | Recorded: 2007 | Released: 2008
Premiere Wolrd Recording - On period instruments

DOMENICO CIMAROSA

Atene Edificata & Coro dei guerrieri

Lindita Hisku

Novella Bassano

Alessia de Amicis

Schola Cantorum San Si Sto

Alio Tempore Ensemble / Francesco Quattrocchi

Bongiovanni GB2428

Giovanni Paisiello - La Daunia Felice

Giovanni Paisiello - La Daunia Felice (libretto by Francesco Saverio Massari)
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Dynamic | Recorded: 2004 | Released: 2007
On original instruments

Donatella Lombardi - soprano

Luca Dordolo - tenor

Marina De Liso - alto

Furio Zanasi - baritone

Collegium Musicum / Federico Guglielmo

Dynamic CDS516

Frederic Rzewski - The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

Frederic Rzewski - The People United Will Never Be Defeated! - Marc-André Hamelin (Piano)
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet + Piano sheet
Hyperion | Recorded: 1998 | Released: 1999

To the uninitiated it is hard to describe the musical world of the American composer Frederic Rzewski. A pianist himself, Rzewski initially made a name for himself as a champion of the avant-garde, performing everything from Cage to Boulez. In the '70s his own music took a much more populist turn as his political beliefs drove him to find a much more approachable language, basically tonal and incorporating much quotation from popular music. It is music of this period that is recorded here.
The People United Will Never Be Defeated! 36 Variations on a Chilean protest song, has been likened to a twentieth-century 'Diabelli' Variations. This lengthy work is a tour de force of compositional and keyboard virtuosity, exhilarating and emotionally all-encompassing in its effect. Marc-André Hamelin has been playing the work for many years and has become one of its greatest champions, though the fact that many other pianists have also taken it up confirms that the piece is becoming a twentieth-century classic. Similiar in idiom are the two North American Ballads that complete the recital; once again popular melodies are woven into a fabric which in Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues includes the stunning representation of the mechanical noise of the mill.

Giovanni Paisiello - Il matrimonio inaspettato

Giovanni Paisiello - Il matrimonio inaspettato (libretto by Pietro Chiari)
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans | INCLUDED XVID FILE WITH COMPLETE REHEARSAL | Video file size: 1,4Gb - Audio file: 610Mb
Supplement to an italian newspaper | Released: 2009
Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini - Riccardo Muti

Domenico Cimarosa - Il Matrimonio Segreto

Domenico Cimarosa - Il Matrimonio Segreto (libretto by Giovanni Bertati)
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ARTS | Recorded: 1991 | Released: 1994
Orchestra of Eastern Netherlands - Gabriele Bellini

Another major release for the budget series ARTS. This is the first complete recording of the Cimarosa masterpiece, the first studio recording in DDD, the most accurate recording following the original manuscript. The only competitor in fact is an old DGG recording with a non-italian cast, only offered in certain countries and at mid to high price.
Il Matrimonio Segreto is one of the most important operas of the late XVIIIth Century, written only a couple of years after Mozart's Cos fan tutte and about twenty years before the first Rossini masterpieces. Altogether it is one of the most difficult comic operas of this period and one of the longest: the first complete edition runs for about 3 hours and 15 minutes. For this edition, recitativi have been released utilizing a Fortepiano. The cast includes some of the most accomplished italian singers for this repertoire together with some of the most renowned young soloists from the U.S.A. (Susan Patterson), U.K.
(Janet Williams) and Finnland (Petteri Salomaa), all of them having already recorded for the majors. Gabriele Bellini, a highly experienced italian conductor, conducts the orchestra of the Netherlands Opera.
 

Antonio Calegari - La resurrezione di Lazzaro

Antonio Calegari - La resurrezione di Lazzaro
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet | INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION DISC (.iso format) INCLUDED!!!
Chandos / Chaconne | Recorded: 2000 | Released: 2001
Academia de li Musici - Filippo Maria Bressan

La resurrezione di Lazzaro (The Raising of Lazarus), written in 1779 to an anonymous libretto, was the first essay in sacred music by the Paduan composer Antonio Calegari. By virtue of its single-part structure, the variety of instruments used and the intimacy of the dialogue, it belongs both to the genre of sacred play as derived from the oratorio, and to that of the cantata.

Franz Xaver Brixi - Judas Iscariothes (Oratorium)

Franz Xaver Brixi - Judas Iscariothes (Oratorium)
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SUPRAPHON | Recorded: 1995 | Released: 2006
Musica Bohemica - Jaroslav Krcek

Judas Iscariot, a new premiere of Frantisek Xaver Brixi’s oratorio for Good Friday in Holy Week.

An original composition of a Czech master of the 18th century, written on an original text by an unknown author.

In the convention of Baroque poetry, three allegorical figures—Justice (bass), Death (alto) and Hope (Soprano) speak to the central character, Judas (tenor).

This Oratorio is a showcase for Brixi’s mastery of counterpoint.

The soloists and Musica Bohemica, conducted by Jaroslav Krcek have prepared a rare artistic experience for their listeners.

- Judas Iscariot, Oratorio For the Feast of Good Friday
(Judas Iscariothes, Oratorium pro die sacro Parasceves)

Ludmila Vernerova, soprano
Pavla Ksicova, contralto
Jiri Vinklarek, tenore
Miloslav Podskalsky, basso
Musica Bohemica
Jaroslav Krcek

Joseph Leopold Eybler - Symphonies 1 & 2

Joseph Leopold Eybler - Symphonies 1 & 2
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
CPO | Recorded: 2004 | Released: 2005
L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève - Michael Hofstetter

CPO presents a disc of orchestral works by Joseph Eybler, who was considered by one of his teachers, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, to be ‘the greatest musical genius in Vienna, second only to Mozart’. Mozart himself also wrote of Eybler in 1790 ‘A young musician and composer of a quality that is only too rarely found’.

Eybler’s excellent reputation was founded mostly on his church music, which has already been well documented in three CPO releases. However, few people that he also wrote two symphonies in the late 1790s, which deserve to be heard.

The Orchestre de Chambre de Genève conducted by Michael Hofstetter deliver lively interpretations of the two works for orchestra whose orchestration primarily concentrates on the string section.

CPO Hybrid SACD 7771042
-------------------------------------------
“I,
the undersigned, attest herewith that I have found the bearer of this, Herr
Joseph Eybler, to be a worthy pupil of his famous master
Albrechtsberger, a well-grounded composer, equally skilled at chamber
music and the church style, fully experienced in the art of the song,
also an accomplished organ and clavier player; in short a young musician
such, one can only regret, as so seldom has his equal.”


Wolfgang Amade’ Mozart

- Symphony No. 1

- Symphony No. 2

- Overture

Antonio Rosetti - Sacred Works (oratorio, cantata, arias)

Antonio Rosetti - Sacred Works (oratorio, cantata, arias)
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
CPO | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2008
Mecklenburgisches Barockorchester (on period instruments) - Johannes Moesus

Antonio Rosetti, who was almost always mentioned in the same breath as Mozart and Haydn by his contemporaries, composed over 40 symphonies, about six dozen solo concertos and chamber music and a considerable number of sacred vocal works.

Ranked amongst his greatest achievements in the latter genre are the large-scale passion oratorio "Jesus in Gethsemane" and the "Hallelujah" cantata. Both show the virtuoso mastery of a whole array of musical techniques.

Thanks to their melodic ingenuity, sophisticated harmony, a distinctive sense of proportion and the, as always, accomplished manipulation of orchestral tones, both of these late works are counted among Rosetti's most meaningful creations.

There is no better conductor for this disc of Rosseti masterpieces than Johannes Moesus who is president of the International Rosetti Society.

- Jesus in Gethsemane, Oratorio for Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra

- Hallelujah, Cantata for Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra

- Salve Regina, 4 Arias for Soprano & Orchestra

Gabriele Hierdeis, soprano
Ruth Sandhof, alto
Jan Kobow, tenore
Thomas E. Bauer, baritono
NDR Chorus
Mecklenburgisches Barockorchester "Herzogliche HofKapelle" (on period instruments)
Johannes Moesus

Franz Joseph Haydn - Philemon & Baucis

Franz Joseph Haydn - Philemon & Baucis
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
Profil / Haenssler | Recorded: 2009 | Released: 2009
Salzburger Hofmusik (on period instruments) - Wolfgang Brunner

For Haydn’s bicentenary, Profil are delighted to release the world première recording of the puppet opera Philemon and Baucis.
The opera was supposedly composed and performed to mark a visit the Empress Maria Theresia paid to Prince Miklós Eszterházy, Haydn’s once employers. It is also said to have marked the opening of the puppet theatre.
The music of Joseph Haydn's three-section German puppet opera Philemon and Baucis is fragmentary. The middle part however, in which the true action takes place, has survived in almost complete form.

Manuel Warwitz, Philemon
Nathalie Vinzent, Baucis
Bernhard Berchtold, Aret
Urlike Hofbauer, Narcissa
Kammerchor Salzburg
Salzburger Hofmusik (on period instruments)
Wolfgang Brunner

Gioacchino Rossini - Petite Messe Solennelle (on original instruments)

Gioacchino Rossini - Petite Messe Solennelle (on original instruments)
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
Classicvoice | Recorded: 2002 | Released: 2009

Played on original instruments, with an original pianoforte dated 1850 and an harmonium with the original stops indicated by Rossini. Diego Fasolis brings this work to a new life

Carmela Remigio, soprano
Gabriella Sborgi, contralto
Roberto Iuliano, tenore
Francesco Ellero-D'Artegna, basso
Emanuele Arciuli, pianoforte (Mikula. Vienna 1850)
Francesco Cera, harmonium (Debain. without dating)
Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera
Diego Fasolis 

Antonio Rosetti - Concertos

Antonio Rosetti - Concertos
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans | 255 Mb
CAPRICCIO | Released: 2007

 

- Piano Concerto in G major (Murray C2):
Christine Schornsheim (fortepiano Johann Andreas Stein, Augsburg 1788)
Berliner Barock-Compagney

- Oboe Concerto in F major (Murray C28)
Burkhard Glaetzner (oboe)
Kammerorchester "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach"
Hartmut Haenchen, conductor

- Horn Concerto in E flat major (Murray C49)
Andrew Joy (horn)
Kolner Rundfunkorchester
Johannes Goritzki, conductor 

Baldassare Galuppi - Il Mondo alla Roversa

Baldassare Galuppi - Il Mondo alla Roversa (libretto by Carlo Goldoni)
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet | 750 Mb
CHANDOS / CHACONNE | Recorded: 1998 | Released: 2001

 

The delightful, metaphorical “island in the Antipodes” is governed by a “council of women” who, in the manner of latter-day Amazons, have reversed the natural order of things by which power is assumed unequivocally by the males of the species.

Franz Joseph Haydn - Il Ritorno di Tobia

Franz Joseph Haydn - Il Ritorno di Tobia
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans | 750 Mb
Naxos | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2007

 

Although Haydn’s place in the history of the oratorio has been secured by his great vocal masterpieces The Creation (Naxos 8.557380-81) and The Seasons (8.557600-01), his first oratorio, Il ritorno di Tobia (The Return of Tobias), is among the better-kept secrets of music history. The Italian libretto deals with the return of Tobias and the curing of his blind father, an exceptionally popular story in eighteenth century Vienna. With its vivid portrayal of the protagonists’ emotional turmoil, achieved largely through wide-ranging arias of great virtuosity, Il ritorno di Tobia is a work of considerable beauty and dramatic impact. This recording includes the two magnificent choruses Ah gran Dio! and Svanisce in un momento written for a performance of Tobia in 1784.

Josef Reicha - Cello Concertos

Josef Reicha - Cello Concertos
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans | 366 Mb
SUPRAPHON | Recorded: 1995 | Released: 2006

 

Josefa Rejcha's numerous compositions span a variety of genres. - Rejcha extensively explored the sound qualities of the string instruments, working with expressive melodies and colourful instrumentation. - His concertos for violin, violin duet, violoncello and violin with violoncello were extraordinarily popular in his day. - Rejcha had a fundamental influence on the early works of two composers - his nephew Antonin Rejcha (1767-1836), theorist and later professor at Paris Conservatory, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Slogan: Josefa Rejcha's violoncello concertos in colourful interpretations by Mikael Ericsson

 

 Mikael Ericsson, cello

Jana Vlachova, violin

Czech Chamber Orchestra,

Ondrej Kuka, conductor

- Cello Concerto in A Major Op 4 No 1
- Concerto for violin and cello in D Major Op 3
- Cello Concerto in D Major

Johann Gottlieb Naumann - La Passione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo

Johann Gottlieb Naumann - La Passione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo (libretto by Pietro Metastasio
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | SCANS HQ | 570 Mb
CPO Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2008

 

First and only recording of this rare but striking beautiful Oratorio by J. G. Naumann. It is composed in the italian style of the late XVIII century (like Salieri's Passione) and contains 2 concertante arias: one with violin, one with bassoon (!!!) which show how good Naumann really was. CPO delivered us a wonderful recording by a great italian specialist: Sergio Balestracci, conducting La Stagione Armonica (chorus) and Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. The singers are first rated as well, like the japanese tenor Makoto Sakurada in the role of Pietro

Monica Bragadin, mezzo-soprano (Maddalena)
Makoto Sakurada, tenore (Pietro)
Raffaele Giordani, tenore (Giovanni)
Alfredo Grandini, basso (Giuseppe)
Coro La Stazione Armonica
Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto
Sergio Balestracci

Pioneers of the classicism. Works by: Stamitz Johann & Carl, Johann Baptist Vanhal and Antoine Mahaut

Pioneers of the classicism. Works by: Stamitz Johann & Carl, Johann Baptist Vanhal and Antoine Mahaut
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | SCANS HQ | 347 Mb
CAPRICCIO 1992

 

List of works

Carl Stamitz:
- Orchestral quartet for strings
- Concerto n4 for 2 clarinets and orchestra
Johann Stamitz:
- Concerto for clarinet and orchestra
Johann Baptist Vanhal
- Symphony in F major (Bryan F5)
Antoine Mahaut
- Symphony n4 in c minor
 

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.3 "The London Sonatas"

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.3 "The London Sonatas"
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
Brilliant Classics | Recorded: 2008 | Released: 2009
Costantino Mastroprimiano (fortepiano)

Muzio Clementi is one of the most colourful and influential musical figures of the past 200 years. Born in Rome, he grew up in Dorset, with the family of Peter Beckford, who in effect bought the boy from his father. The agreement was to provide him with an English gentleman’s education and upbringing. Clementi grew up during the period that saw the end of the baroque, and the beginning of the classical age in music. His influence upon younger composers was marked. Beethoven’s early piano sonatas show that he had a thorough knowledge of those by Clementi. Clementi was also a publisher, and struck up a lucrative business relationship with Beethoven.

The works on this 3CD set are from his early years, and by and large do not contain the revolutionary music of the Op. 40 and 50 sonatas. However, the Op. 11 sonata with its toccata movement is a remarkable work for 1784. It probably also existed as a piano concerto, as the left hand has some very difficult running figuration, providing almost orchestral texture and colour. Also of note is the first of four Capriccios Clementi composed. The last two are large works of 20 minutes duration each. This 1787 is a more modest affair, and is based on two popular songs of the time. It is easy on the ear salon music, very different to the groundbreaking works that would shortly follow.

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.2 "The Earliest Sonatas"

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.2 "The Earliest Sonatas"
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
Brilliant Classics | Recorded: 2007 | Released: 2008
Costantino Mastroprimiano (fortepiano)

This is a sequel to the 3-CD album with the Viennese sonatas by Clementi released last year. Fortepianist Costantino Mastroprimiano now continues with the composer’s earliest sonatas. They range from really early ones – Clementi may have been only 11 when he wrote the first piece – to mature and technically demanding works.

At twelve and already an organist at the churches of Rome Italian Muzio Clementi was taken to England by a ‘patron’. This Peter Beckford was the dedicatee of Clementi’s first set of published works. They are sonatas which are musically uncomplicated.

This issue also comprises Clementi’s Opera I and II, sets of sonatas composed after his extremely busy period with Beckford, studying and performing as a virtuoso pianist. Especially the three works for solo piano from Opera II are of exceptional virtuosity for that time (1779) and reflect Clementi’s own dexterity.

Once again fortepianist Costantino Mastroprimiano takes the listener on an interesting journey through mostly unknown territory.

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.1 "The Viennese Sonatas"

Muzio Clementi - Complete Piano Sonatas Vol.1 "The Viennese Sonatas"

EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | HQ Scans
Brilliant classics | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2007
Costantino Mastroprimiano (fortepiano)

In 1780, Clementi left London, where he had been prolific in his composition for keyboard, and embarked upon a European tour which included visits to Paris and Vienna. He is presumed to have arrived in December 1781 but sadly, not to the acclaim that he may have expected. His keyboard style and indeed, the English instrument on which he was used to playing were too far removed from the Viennese instrument and the compositional possibilities it allowed. The Op 7-11 works all date from his stay in Vienna and are a stylistic departure, taking advantage of a new and mechanically improved instrument and its resultant expressive possibilities.

Mastroprimiano is an artist, teacher and researcher and a specialist in the music of Clementi.  

What I'm going to do with this blog?

After the forementioned few tries I decided to start using and updating this blog. Don't expect to find always new daily music since I will be alternating periods of mass releasing to periods (even months) of nothing. That doesn't mean dead and buried, I will still be available for questions, re-ups if needed and whatever you will need. For now I'm posting my old rips, new ones will follow pretty much soon.

Some tips: links will be posted ONLY as comments, I'm not sure yet if I will post ed2k links/releases too or just those uploaded to storage sites but if you feel like using emule again (there are many reasons to do so, imho) then write me and I will gladly provide you with ed2k links.

Beside this blog you can find my posts on avax, melomaniacos and eliteclasica with nicks: Kushami, Miehina and Alucard respectively. If you want to post something in other places feel free to do it, even making mirrors links, I'm here to share music as much as possible.

Enough chatting now, cya and have fun :)

Nicola Porpora - Orlando

Nicola Porpora - Orlando (libretto by Pietro Metastasio after Ariosto's Orlando Furioso)
EAC RIP | FLAC + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet
K617 | Recorded: 2005 | Released: 2005

Here is the earliest operatic masterpiece of Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), Neapolitan composer, who left an indelible mark on the 18th century and the careers of its greatest masters, from Hasse, Jommelli and Handel to Joseph Haydn, who was his pupil in Vienna. Against the backcloth of the old Carolingian epic, the valiant knight Roland is transformed into a lover before becoming 'Orlando furioso' in this encounter of three mythical figures: Ariosto, Metastasio and Porpora. We run the gamut from epic to tragedy in this vibrant, crackling performance under the inspired direction of Juan Bautista Otero. A major discovery!

PDF booklet (english, spanish and french) and HQ cover taken from K617 official website

With this we end the "Otero's operatic trilogy", the other 2 titles being:
- Martin y Soler (Ifigenia)
- Mazzoni (Aminta)
We should all thank Otero and K617 for this 3 wonderful discoveries, therefore if you happen to like these cds buy them and support the artists, they are worth every single euro they cost. Who knows, maybe more forgotten operas will be released in the future! 

Antonio Mazzoni - Aminta, il Re pastore

Antonio Mazzoni - Aminta, il Re pastore (libretto by Pietro Metastasio)
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet | 717 Mb
K617 | Recorded: 2006 | Released: 2007

Aminta, Il rè pastore (Aminta, the shepherd king) is an extraordinary work commissioned by Farinelli from the Bolognese composer Antonio Mazzoni (1717-85) after the enormous success in Lisbon of his two previous operas, La clemenza di Tito and Antigono.

You can find FULL pdf booklet, tracklist, cast and audio samples at K617 official website
The recording is yet again perfect, like many others K617 recordings. Orchestra plays on historical instruments with Vallotti temperament and A at 415hz.
The booklet is really full of infos (almost 80 pages!) translated in the 3 main languages: french, english and spanish. Libretto is in in italian (of course, it is an italian opera) with french only translation. Don't worry even if you don't speak neither italian nor french is easy to follow the plot, which basically is the same of the Mozart's opera with the same name (Il Re Pastore K208), also the booklet tells you everything you need to know.

wavpack file with embedded cuesheet, separate cuesheet properly tagged and replaygained, EAC logs, PDF booklet and HQ scans of the cover.

Vincente Martin y Soler - Ifigenia in Aulide

Vincente Martin y Soler - Ifigenia in Aulide (libretto by Luigi Serio)
EAC RIP | WAVPACK + CUE + LOG | PDF Booklet | 480 Mb
K617 | Released: 2006

After Porpora's Orlando, Juan Bautista Otero and his musicians continue their exploration of the late 18th century operatic repertoire. Here is Ifigenia, the masterpiece of Martin y Soler, inexplicably left languishing in obscurity until now. A sparkling orchestra, vocal soloists fully equal to every virtuoso challenge - the extraordinary dramatic effects of the sacrifice are performed here with an expressive power that makes this recording a benchmark version.

Infos, pdf booklet (included also in the pack) and cover scan can be found at K617 website

> (see comments) <

So, what?

Nothing, just testing the blog's functions while I'm thinking whether to update it or not.
I will try to publish some stuff and see if it's worth the time.