There are many other highly recommendable recordings by Collegium Musicum 90 under Simon Standage on the Chandos early music label, Chaconne. If you’ve heard a reasonable cross-section of the music of Vivaldi and would like to experiment with some of his near-contemporaries, their recording of Alessandro Marcello’s six Violin Concertos, Op.6, known as ‘La Cetra’, together with an extra Concerto in B-flat, would be a good place to start.
A contemporary of Tomaso Albinoni, Alessandro Marcello was the son of a senator in Venice. As such, he enjoyed a comfortable life that gave him the scope to pursue his interest in music. He held concerts in his hometown and also composed and published several sets of concertos, including six concertos under the title of La Cetra (The Lyre), as well as cantatas, arias, canzonets, and violin sonatas.

Trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth's album of Magical Memories was recorded during the coronavirus pandemic and intended as a positive statement, suggesting childhood memories that bring strength at a difficult time. The memories are Helseth's own; she heard her mother play the trumpet with an organist in church and loved the combination. It's a simple and direct concept, but it conceals several challenges that Helseth has successfully surmounted on this lovely release. First of all, in Helseth's own words, "There is nothing as difficult to play as a really simple melody – a simple, unadorned, honest melody coming from within. It's magic!" She offers traditional Norwegian folk melodies and classical favorites, and she's right; to make these more than ordinary is difficult, but she pulls it off with really charismatic performances of the likes of "Solveig's Lullaby" from Grieg's Peer Gynt.

The brothers Marcello, Alessandro and the more famous Benedetto, were born into an illustrious patrician family in Venice in 1684 and 1686 respectively. The eldest, with his eclectic talent, proved to be attracted to both the arts and the sciences from an early age; the youngest, better known as the “prince of sacred music”, was about to study the violin very young. According to legend, still children, Alessandro mocked him for his lack of talent in front of the princess of Brunswick, which made him swear to devote himself to musical studies in a zealous manner.

They consider themselves the oldest tribe of ancient Greece. Their territory is a place from the eternal Golden Age, where peaceful shepherds, unhindered by hard work, can pursue their pleasures and passions. A blissful, perfect country life: Arcadia, the ideal place for ancient mythology, for nymphs and shepherds, heroes and gods. It needn’t worry us that Arcadia was transported from its original location in the heart of the Peloponnese to Sicily in classical Latin literature.

The chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana was established in 1983. The musicians have in common their delight in making music and their enthusiasm for collective playing in a small ensemble. Most of them are both renowned experienced chamber musicians and soloists. The name ”Cappella Istropolitana” is derived from the Latin word Istropolis – town on the Danube.

Die Blockflötistin und ECHO Klassik-Preisträgerin Dorothee Oberlinger ist mittlerweile weit über die Alte Musik- und die Klassik-Szene hinaus bekannt. Erst Ende vorigen Jahres widmete die Vogue ihr einen Artikel und in der Talkshow »3nach9« begeisterte sie die Zuschauer, auch durch ihr Duett mit Klaus Doldinger. Auf ihrer neuen CD »Flauto Veneziano« widmet sich Dorothee Oberlinger ganz der Flötenkunst Venedigs von der Renaissance bis zum Spätbarock. Die Blockflöte, im Italienischen bis zum Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts schlicht »flauto«, war in Venedig bis zur Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts ein sehr beliebtes und verbreitetes Instrument.

Brigitte - Klassik zum Genießen: Die neue Serie mit einfach schöner Musik, ausgewählt von der Musikredaktion der Brigitte und Sony Classical.
Dorothee Oberlinger hat längst bewiesen, welch abwechslungsreiches und virtuoses Instrument die Blockflöte ist. Für ihre herausragende Musikalität wurde sie 2008 mit dem Echo Klassik als Instrumentalistin des Jahres ausgezeichnet. Sowohl Fachpresse als auch Musikliebhaber überschlagen sich mit Lob. »Barocke Freuden! Welch' Klangwelle rollt auf uns zu, wenn man die Flötentöne von Dorothee Oberlinger hört«, schreibt Spiegel Online.