The biblical story of the princess Judith, who seduces and then beheads the invading Assyrian general Holofernes, has attracted composers from the early days of opera almost down to the present day with its mixture of gore, patriotic self-sacrifice, and latent feminist themes.

Louis XVI was the last king of France (1774-92) in the line of Bourbon monarchs preceding the French Revolution of 1789. Louis and his queen consort, Marie-Antoinette, were guillotined in 1793 on charges of counter-revolution.
Following the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Bourbons returned to power in France and restored the system of monarchy under Louis XVIII. During this process, they also introduced a number of highly symbolic cultural acts as a public representation of the Bourbon dynasty. In 1815, the new king Louis XVIII had the mortal remains of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette removed from the Cimetière de la Madeleine in a solemn ceremony, taken to Saint Denis and placed in separate graves in the crypt.

Brahms composed his two published String Quintets amid the rural tranquillity of Bad Ischl in Upper Austria and the works can almost be seen as an expression of escape from the 'urban stress' of nineteenth-century Vienna. The Quintets show Brahms standing at the pinnacle of the composition of chamber music, their gentle pastoral character being subtly shaded by a profoundly melancholy introspection.

Some ten years probably separates the composition of the Missa in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae (c. 1768) from the Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo (c 1777–8). Because of the virtuoso role of the organ in each work the former has become known as the ''Great Organ Mass'' and the latter as the ''Little Organ Mass''. 'Great' and 'Little' reflect both the size of the orchestras and the scale of each work. Thus the earlier of the two Masses is on an altogether grander scale than the later one. It is scored for a four-part chorus, four soloists (SATB), strings, cors anglais, horns, bassoon and obbligato organ, and in this performance additional trumpet and trombone parts found in one of the work's sources, are included as well. Doubtfully authentic timpani parts are also present.

When one approaches the music of the eighteenth century that was performed at the Spanish court of the Palacio de la Zarzuela (which in shortened from then gave the whole “zarzuela” genre its name), whether by composers born in Spain or by foreigners who had settled there, the first impression is one of surprise. For here we find ourselves confronted with magnificent music that follows Italianate models, like all works of the period, yet contributes original elements specific to the country that gave it birth: above all the theatrical style, the inclusion of characteristic rhythms, and the richness of the texts, taken from great writers of the time.

The Baroque dream team of Rachel Podger and Kristian Bezuidenhout interpret the astonishing music of C.P.E. Bach’s Violin Sonatas in C Minor, B Minor, D Major and G Minor. The two early sonatas here from the 1730s resemble the older style of his father. Listening to these works, you can imagine J.S. Bach glancing over Emanuel's shoulders while he wrote them as a teenager at home in Leipzig. The later sonatas, written 30 to 50 years later, reveal an emancipated composer whose developed musical language embodies the 'Empfindsamer Stil', the directly emotional and rhetorical style characteristic of northern-german music of the time.

Diving into Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Matheus Ensemble, and a shockingly good cast is enough to make even the most jaded listener smile. It is fresh, unrelentingly impressive, and entertaining to a fault. The opera is over-plotted: the first paragraph of the synopsis is enough to confuse anyone not taking notes. And listening to the entire thing would amount to more flowery, athletic vocalism than most can stand in one sitting. But those with the remotest interest in Vivaldi opera, or opera at all, will be hard pressed not to marvel at the quality of what's recorded here. Spinosi is a brilliant Vivaldian who pulls sweet-toned lyricism and down-and-dirty sawing from his Matheus Ensemble, making the most of the composer's rich orchestration. And the cast pulls one rabbit after another out of its collective hat, tackling Vivaldi's consummately difficult arias with élan.

A charismatic presence, [Casals] embraces each work with the passion of a devoted horticulturist tending his most precious flowers … I can't think of any other interpreters who so successfully underline the sheer inventiveness of Beethoven's writing.

The oratorio "Der Kampf der Buße und Bekehrung" (the struggle for penance and conversion) is among Johann Michael Haydn's lesser-known works. The Purcell Choir together with the Orfeo Orchestra, under the direction of György Vashegyi now present a recording of the second and only surviving part of this three-part oratorio. It is impressive, especially for its unusual scoring: All of the the five solo roles are allotted to sopranos. The artistic mixture of majestic passages, surprising turns, Baroque rhetorical figures and virtuoso arias makes clear why later composers (e.g., Mozart, Schubert or Bruckner) repeatedly took Johann Michael Haydn's music as their model.

The sixth volume of our complete recording of Bach's cantatas inaugurates the long series of sacred cantatas written during the composer's years in Leipzig. With a single exception, the cantatas included in the present release belong to the first annual cycle and date from 1723/24.The cycle begins with Cantatas 75 and 76, with which the recently installed Thomaskantor took up his new appointment in April 1723.

This second and final volume of Chopin’s Mazurkas by Peter Jablonski includes the composer's Mazurkas Nos. 30-51 alongside six posthumous mazurkas. For Chopin, the Mazurkas became a deeply personal, intimate statement of his feelings as an émigré Polish composer living in Paris. From some of his very first compositions to his last, it is the only form that Chopin composed regularly throughout his life. Similarly, Chopin’s Mazurkas have followed Peter Jablonski throughout his entire career as a pianist in nearly every solo recital. This album also includes Chopin’s final composition that was written just few weeks before his death, the Mazurka No. 49 in F minor (1849).

Roughly half of this set is strongly recommendable—and even the half that isn't is still well worth hearing. Ferenc Fricsay was a pivotal figure in the rebuilding of German musical life after the war, primarily as conductor of the Berlin RIAS (Radio In the American Sector) Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1946, re-named the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1956 and which is now known as the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Berlin. Fricsay's first international triumph was in 1947 when he took over from an indisposed Otto Klemperer for the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera Dantons Tod.

Most of Vivaldi's operas were composed for Venice, but between 1718 and 1720, he was in the employ the Austrian governor of Mantua, and he composed Tito Manlio for the governor's wedding celebration. The wedding never took place, but the opera was performed in 1719. The Mantuan court was very wealthy, and this is clear from the lavish scoring of Manlio: in addition to the usual strings, Vivaldi uses horns, trumpets, oboes, bassoon, two different registers of flutes, timpani and viola d'amore.

Concertgoers and critics alike rave about Silke Aichhorn's entertainingly moderated concerts, and her goal is nothing less than the redefinition of the image of the harp! Active as a soloist and chamber musician, Aichhorn is one of the most sought-after and versatile harpists of her generation. Following her release featuring Eichner's harp concertos, she now interprets for cpo three harp concertos by Johann Wilhelm Hertel, a composer regarded as one of the most important representatives of the empfindsamer Stil during the German preclassical period. His concerto oeuvre comprises some fifty solo concertos, and seventeen harpsichord concertos by him are known today.

This hugely successful opera, heard and admired by Mozart during his sojourn in France, began a new kind of French musical drama. Glorious orchestral colours and wickedly witty ensemble pieces reveal striking musical and dramatic ideas, embracing the daring new ideals of the Enlightenment, while laying bare the innermost thoughts and feelings of the characters in a way that would inspire Mozart’s partnership with his librettist da Ponte. Mistaken identity, mysterious strangers, true love, duels and a happy ending!