This compilation is a perfect work/study/contemplation CD, when you want to reduce the hum and din of modern life. It's wonderfully played, and has 23 tracks for a total of 72:45 minutes of melodic, serene music. The famous Adagio in G minor, so often heard in films, etc., is here given a lovely rendition. Played a little faster than most other versions, with the individual instruments (especially the harpsichord) being heard clearly. It's not as lush and smooth as some recordings, but crisper, and to my ears, absolutely delightful. It's hard to pick favorites among the other selections…each piece is a baroque beauty that flows well from one track to the next. I'm sure this CD will please most people who like 18th century music.

The five Sinfonie a Flauto Solo e Basso come from a manuscript in the custody of the Biblioteca Palatino of Parma, the miscellany 'Sinfonie di varij autori' (marking CF-V-23). lt is a collection containing little more than twenty compositions in sonata form, in some cases called sonate and in others slnfonie, works by such ltalian composers os Albinoni, Corelli, Somis, Valentini ond others. Most probably the collection groups together the personal repertoire of a flautist, almost certainly an amateur, active in the first half of the XVIIIth century: the manuscript therefore represents one of the few sources of the ltalian sonata repertoire for flute from the first decades of the Eighteenth-century, the total existence of which is somewhat meagre.

Enrico Di Felice completed his flute diploma in 1978 with full marks cum laude. His teachers for modern flute were G. Pellegrini and M. Ancillotti and Stephen Preston for the baroque flute. He has performed as soloist in the most prestigious European concert halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikhalle of Hamburg, the Hall of Geneva Conservatoire, as well as Montreal, Tokyo, Dijon, Brussels, Strasbourg, Dresden, Leipzig, Bern, Innsbruck etc. He has also recorded numerous CDs of the most important works for flute by Vivaldi, Albinoni, Telemann, Scarlatti and Monteclair. His CD recording of Pergolesi and Leo’s concertos for flute was given maximum recognition in the prestigious French music publication Diapason.

The prodigious Norwegian treble Aksel Rykkvin returns to disc on Signum with a new disc of Baroque works, accompanying the MIN Ensemble under conductor and trumpeter Mark Bennett and their artistic director Lazar Miletic. Featuring both instrumental pieces and excerpts from operas and other works by Handel, Rameau, Albinoni and Rittler, this disc further documents Aksel’s unique talent as a performer. Praise for Aksel’s previous release (Aksel! SIGCD435) and performances: “A mature, musical performer […] an accomplished and adult disc”.

The Baroque Project, Vol. IV. Tomasi Albinoni. Opera Arias and Instrumental Music. Ana Quintans, soprano. Concerto de’Cavalieri. Marcello Di Lisa, conductor. Containing nine world premiere recordings, the fourth volume of The Baroque Project focuses once again on Venice, this time with the music of Tomaso Albinoni. Concertos and rare arias from Albinoni’s forgotten operas are performed with incredible energy and imagination by Marcello Di Lisa and his Concerto de’Cavalieri on period instruments. The featured soloist is the Portuguese soprano Ana Quintans, widely considered one of the leading baroque singers of our time.

A collection of the very best of Bartoli's treasured recordings of musical delights and discoveries of the 17th and 18th century. Featuring two previously unreleased world premiere recordings of forgotten jewels by Leonardo Vinci and Agostino Steffani. With guest appearances from Philippe Jaroussky, June Anderson, Franco Fagioli and Sol Gabetta.

Charivari Agreable perform a collection of overtures from the Italian Baroque Opera, best described by director Kah-Ming Ng as lucidly crafted for the purpose of turning heads. In a decadent era when the theatregoers antics were often as intriguing as the on-stage performances, these works were composed to thrill, beguile and engage a distracted audience. Charivari Agreable represent a new and very exciting phase of the early music revival, one that enriches the existing repertory and can bring us ever closer to the spirit of the original music.

Tomaso Albinoni was a composer who was different from most of his colleagues in presenting himself as a dilettante. That didn't prevent him from being highly appreciated, not only in Italy but also abroad. His music has been found in many locations across Europe. There are various pirated editions of his works and collections with sonatas claimed to be from his pen. Their authenticity is highly questionable but their quantity bears further witness to his status.

The Carnival of Venice in 1729 was quite unlike any other. Over a period of two months, opera houses went into a frenzy of competition to show off the most famous singers of the day, including the legendary castrato Farinelli who made his astonishing Venetian debut. Several of the most fashionable composers rose to the occasion, writing ravishing music for spectacular productions which often pitted the singers against each other in breathtaking displays of virtuosity. The results were sensational; one tour de force followed another in an atmosphere of fevered excitement and the adoring public lapped it up.

During the 1990s, Collegium Musicum 90 and Simon Standage released several volumes of Albinoni concertos, which proved popular with critics and public alike. The concertos were released as discs of single oboe concertos, double oboe concertos, and string concertos. In this re-issue on the Chaconne label, the concertos are presented in opus number order, showing the contrasting colours and tonalities of the concertos as they originally appeared.

An ensemble that attracts rave reviews and sell-out crowds at prestigious venues everywhere from Vienna to New York, the sensational SIGNUM Saxophone Quartet present their first Deutsche Grammophon album. Featuring inventive arrangements of music by composers from Dowland to Peter Gregson, as well as Guillermo Lago's "Sarajevo," a sax quartet original.

The artistry of Holliger (b1939) prompted Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli) to call him 'The Paganini of the oboe' Holliger's mastery of the oboe ranges over a vast expanse of repertoire, from the baroque to contemporary – Bach to Berio and Zelenka to Zimmermann. His style is notable for its flexibility, agility, integrity and ability to communicate convincingly across the wide range of repertoire he performs. Holliger has done much to champion the oboe music of composers such as Zelenka and Krommer, and has also had over 100 works composed for him by composers including Berio, Carter, Henze, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Penderecki and Stockhausen.

The English, historical-instrument, Baroque ensemble La Serenissima (the term was a nickname for the city of Venice) has specialized in somewhat scholarly recordings that nevertheless retain considerable general appeal, and the group does it again with this release. The program offers some lesser-known composers, and some lesser-known pieces by famous composers like the tiny and fascinating Concerto alla rustica for two oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo, RV 151. What ties the program together formally is that it covers a range of Italian cities that were becoming cultural centers as they declined in political power: not only Venice (Vivaldi, Albinoni, Caldara), but also Padua (Tartini), Bologna (Torelli), and Rome (Corelli). There are several works by composers known only for one or two big hits, and these are especially rewarding. Sample the opening movement of Tartini's Violin Concerto E major, DS 51, with its unusual phrase construction and daringly chromatic cadenza passage: it has the exotic quality for which Tartini became famous, but it does not rely on sheer virtuosity. That work is played by leader Adrian Chandler himself, but he also chooses pieces for a large variety of other solo instruments: the Italian Baroque was about more than the violin. Each work on the album has something to recommend it, and collectively the performances may make up the best album of 2017 whose booklet includes footnotes.

Cecilia Bartoli and Sol Gabetta – two of the most captivating women in classical music – are joining together for a new album ‘Dolce Duello’ to be released on Decca Classics on 10th November. It is a collection of Baroque masterpieces which showcase the stunning combination of voice and cello in a series of dazzling duels and wondrous arias. To coincide with the release, Bartoli and Gabetta will be performing on a European tour with Cappella Gabetta and conductor and violinist Andrés Gabetta.