Andreas Scholl returns to his repertoire of choice,introducing us to the splendid works of Frantisek Tůma - a little-known Bohemian composer whowas a prominent musical figure in the 18th century.

Nearly 1,000 kilometres separate Holešov, Moravia, from Strasbourg, if one takes a detour through Mannheim. Franz Xaver Richter's professional journey started in Count Rottal's court orchestra in Holešov and ended in the prestigious post of Kapellmeister at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Strasbourg. He is primarily known as one of the major representatives of the renowned Mannheim School, with his "trumpet" Sinfonia No. 52 in D being a typical example of the late Mannheim form. The grandiose Te Deum, featured on the present CD, is Richter's second setting of the hymn and was first performed in 1781 in Strasbourg, during the celebrations marking the centenary of the city's coming under French administration.

"… he sat down in an armchair, pored over for the last time the score of the mourning music he himself had composed for his funeral, and - when lightly touched by the angel of death - bowed his head and passed away." C. F. Schubart's description of the death in 1789 of the eighty-year-old F. X. Richter, Kapellmeister of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Strasbourg, may be rather romantic (two years later an almost identical story related to the last moments of W. A. Mozart), yet when looking at the clean copy of the autograph score we cannot resist the idea that the Requiem encapsulates the quintessence of his legacy.

Czech Ensemble Baroque's first recording dedicated to František Ignác Antonín Tůma (Requiem, Miserere) confirmed his firm position among Europe's major late-Baroque composers. A pupil of the renowned Viennese master J. J. Fux, his music is characterised by immaculate refined counterpoint, yet he also embraced and brought to bear elements of the incipient Galant style. Dating from three different phases of his life, the three pieces featured on the present album map Tůma's artistic development. The grandiose Missa Veni Pater Pauperum, written in 1736 for the Schottenstift, a Benedictine abbey in Vienna, is from the time when he served Count Franz Ferdinand Kinsky, who had provided him with a thorough education.

Bass-baritone Adam Plachetka presents Molieri, a programme of opera arias by Mozart and Salieri, together with the Czech Ensemble Baroque under the baton of Roman Válek. Thanks to fictional works such as the film Amadeus, Antonio Salieri is often scapegoated as the man who allegedly caused Mozart’s untimely death out of professional envy. Despite the fact that this is obviously not true, Salieri’s popularity has suffered from this popular myth-making, and most of his operas have sunk into oblivion. Molieri brings the two composers together, focusing on bass-8 baritone arias from their opera buffas. Famous arias from Mozart’s Da Ponte operas are heard in a completely different light when paired to excerpts from Salieri’s Falstaff, Axur, La grotto di Trofonio and La scuola de’ gelosi. It also makes clear why Salieri enjoyed such success, as well as why great composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt all wanted to study with him. Given the importance of Prague for Mozart’s operatic successes, the music fits the players of Czech Ensemble Baroque like a glove, and Plachetka possesses the optimal combination of vocal authority and agility to sing these buffo roles.