Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená hasn't often sung Baroque music. Thus, it is all the more impressive that when she does, she devises really innovative programs with unusual music. Her enthusiasm for the project may be gauged by her comment here: "I could hardly imagine more passionate, savage, uninhibited yet loving and caressing companions for these desperate heroines than Vaclav Luks and the musicians of Collegium 1704." She's right about the musicians, yet the real spotlight is on Kožená herself. The program consists of secular cantatas from the first half of the 18th century; this genre has been neglected amidst the general rediscovery of Baroque opera.

“Indisputably the most consummate artist in the history of the classical trumpet,” was how Gramophone described Maurice André, a musician characterised by both brilliance and refinement. These six CDs, which give pride of place to music from the 18th and 20th centuries, complement some of the most popular concertos ever written for trumpet with an enticing and fascinating selection of rarely-heard works.

Franz Szabo schrieb über diese Aufführung: »… Was Christoph Hammer und seine ›Neue Hofkapelle München‹ am Abend des Pfingstsonntags […] im Kolomanisaal darbrachten, kann man schlichtwegs nur als sensationell bezeichnen. Benedotto Marcellos Oratorium ›Joaz‹ bescherte zweieinhalb Stunden hochdramatischer, intelligenter, spannender und differenzierter Barockmusik, deren Schönheit alle Anwesenden restlos in ihren Bann schlug. […] Der österreichische Tenor Daniel Johannsen überzeugte als stimmprächtiger und wortdeutlicher böser Berater mit aufflackernd schlechtem Gewissen. […] Kaum zu glauben und ein weiterer Beweis für die höchste Qualität dieses Ensembles, daß die Künstler nur wenige Tage an der Erprobung des Stückes arbeiten konnten. […] Beruhigend zu wissen, dass dieses Oratorium zum oftmaligen Nachhören vom ORF aufgenommen wurde.«

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.

Passion Jaroussky marks 20 years since Philippe Jaroussky made his professional debut and commenced his rapid ascent to stardom. As the French countertenor says, “Even after all these years, my passion for music is undimmed.” Ranging musically from the 16th to the 21st century, the triple album comprises both new recordings and highlights from recent albums, and it also showcases Jaroussky’s collaborations with a host of major singers – from the worlds of both classical music and pop – instrumentalists, conductors and orchestras.

A delightfull combination of well chosen program materials and expert recording techniques. Sabrina Frey and her companion musicians are top notch performers that serve a concert with well worked ensemble and group interplay.
I found the playing of Sabrina Frey most interesting. She commands her recorder with consumate skill. The works played (including 2 premières) are by Scarlatti, Sieber, Corelli, Valentini, Bononcini, and Marcello. Masters of the baroque form.

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.

Costituita nel 1984, l'Orchestra da Camera "Benedetto Marcello'' ha tenuto numerosi concerti in Italia a all'Estero con riconoscimenti lusinghieri da parte della critica. Interessata al recupero delta musica strumentale italiana del XVIII secolo, soprattutto inedita, ha revisionato ed inciso per I'etichetta Bongiovanni i Concerti per flauto, archi e cembalo di G.B. Sammartini, L. Leo, N. Porpora, G. Sammartini, G.B. Martini, I'Intermezzo "Traccollo" di G.B. Pergolesi e i concerti per pianoforte a orchestra di Dussek; per I'etichetta Mondo Musica ? Emi i Concerti di Quantz, Pergolesi a Piacentino per flauto, archi e cembalo e brani di Monteverdi per soprano, archi e cembalo, collaborando con direttori e solisti di livello internazionale. I CD sono stati recensiti positivamente dalle più importanti riviste di musica. L'Orchestra ha partecipato a diversi Festivals italiani e stranieri anche con prime esecuzioni assolute in tempi moderni e inediti del '700 italiano ed ha curato l'allestimento degli Intermezzi Livietta a Traccollo, Il Maestro di Musica La Serva Padrona di G.B. Pergolesi e dell'opera Il Matrimonio Segreto di D. Cimarosa in occasione del bicentenario della sua prima esecuzione.

Benedetto Marcello (1686–1739), remembered best today for some attractive instrumental music, including some virtuosic works for oboe, and his satire of the opera house, Il teatro alla moda, also wrote a small group of oratorios, including a pair of allegorical pieces for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin at Macerata. One of these was Il pianto e il riso delle quattro stagioni from 1733. It has been described as a "highly poetic, generally mellow, faintly comic" work, in which Marcello employed "the whole arsenal of techniques he had mastered over a quarter-century"; in fact, not only is there amazing attention to detail in the string articulation, but it also provides an important record of a composer's expectations of his string orchestra. Few oratorios from this locale and period are available in modern editions, and this example has all the formal characteristics associated with the genre of oratorio in the first half of the eighteenth century.

Il pianto e il riso delle quattro stagioni dell'anno per la morte, esultazione e coronazione di Maria Assunta in Cielo, written in 1731, is the second last of the four oratorios by Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739). As a member of the Venetian aristocracy he didn‘t have to consider the musical conventions as much as his professional contemporaries. Thanks to his unconventional style he is one of the most interesting Italian baroque composers.

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.

Wherever the Kaunas Chamber Orchestra comes from, they are excellent in the Baroque repertory – possessing a fine sense of nobilmente mixed with a lively sense of rhythm. The Marcello Concert Grossi may not be quite as fine as Corelli's or Handel's opp. 6, but it is certainly the equal of Torelli's op. 8, Avison's Scarlatti-inspired or Geminiani's opp. 2-5.

Ewa Podles is a rarity: a true contralto with thrilling high and low notes, not to mention everything in between. Unlike Horne, whose lower register occasionally sounds baritonal, Podles is feminine throughout her estimable range. This recording of 18th-century arias exploits every aspect of this wonderful artist, including firm, beautiful tone and awesome coloratura. All of the selections, from the familiar Purcell and Gluck to the less recognizable arias from Vivaldi, Handel, and Marcello, are sung with brio and/or firm legato. Excellent period accompaniment by Patrick Peire and the Collegium Instrumental de Bruges.

–William S. Levison

Any recording of an opera by Benedetto Marcello will, for many, bring to mind his literary satire, IL TEATRO ALLA MODA, subtitled "a safe and easy method of properly composing and producing Italian operas according to modern practice." Within its pages, no one involved in the creation of opera-librettist, composer, singers, impresario-is spared. In one passage, the composer is admonished to "oblige the impresario to provide a great number of violins, oboes, horns, etc., preferring to let him economize on double basses, for these should not be used except in the preliminary tuning."

Countertenor Andreas Scholl's new CD is devoted to little-known, late-17th- and early-18th-century cantatas whose subject matter is Arcadia, a real region in Greece, but more frequently evoked as an idyllic place filled with innocent, simple shepherds and shepherdesses. Scholl employs a more operatic tone and attitude than we're accustomed to from countertenors. Not only does he use vibrato and "lean" on the voice, but he dips down, as in the final moments of a cantata by Marcello, into a deep, dark baritone range. The effect is dramatic and apt. Elsewhere his tone is just gorgeous and always expressive, he pays attention to the text of these works and captures the theatrical moment in each. The last movement of a work by Francesco Gasparini is excitingly acrobatic. The Accademia Byzantina is a remarkable "backup" group and they get to play some purely orchestral works as well. This disc is a knockout; enjoy it.

–Robert Levine