This 25CD set presents the most famous, iconic and best-loved works from the Baroque Era, works which are part of our common musical heritage and conscience, eternally young and cherished for their charm, beauty and deeply human emotions, shared by audiences all over the world.
Played by specialized Early Music Groups like L’Arte Dell’arco, Musica Amphion, Violini Capricciosi, Musica ad Rhenum and many others.

Giuseppe Sammartini's expressive sonatas are still quite unknown, and indeed some of them are recorded here for the first time. Sammartini's compositions often sound unusual, revealing bizarre surprises and deep emotions.

Fire Beneath My Fingers tells a fascinating story of great performers and performances! This program showcases Antonio Vivaldi, Guiseppe Sammartini, and Guiseppe Tartini; three of the most legendary composers of this era who were also virtuoso performers in their own rights.

The many successes of La Risonanza, the ensemble led from the keyboard by Fabio Bonizzoni (notably with its survey of Handel secular cantatas), can often lead to Bonizzoni’s great talent as a harpsichordist and organist being overlooked. Here, in the delightful Op 9 concertos by Giuseppe Sammartini, we are able to enjoy Bonizzoni’s skill in the latter role, assisted by a small – but decidedly elegant – ensemble of all-stars in which feature the violin playing of David Plantier and Olivia Centurioni.

Wer erkunden möchte, welche Brillanz und Farbenvielfalt das Spiel auf einer Blockflöte ermöglicht, sollte in dieses vielgestaltige Programm mit italienischen Sonaten hineinhören. Dorothee Oberlinger verfügt über eine phänomenale Technik, mit der sie jeden musikalischen Impuls umzusetzen und ihre Spielfreude ungebremst auszuleben vermag. Selbst in den rasantesten Läufen und vertracktesten Verzierungen bleibt die Artikulation glasklar, der Ton wunderbar präsent und konturiert.

London Baroque offers another installment in its ongoing European Trio Sonata series, this time devoted to 18th-century Italy; as with the ensemble’s previous efforts the program features generally excellent performances of lesser-known repertoire. Ten years ago I reviewed a similar 18th-century Italian program by this same group titled “Stravaganze Napoletane”, also on BIS, and was generally impressed with the performances–except for one piece: Domenico Gallo’s Sonata No. 1 in G major.

Vivaldi wrote very little for the lute, guitar, or mandolin–all of which can be used to play this music. In fact the two concertos have become very popular among guitarists, who are always looking for something interesting to play that doesn't require too much effort to transcribe from another medium. The music itself, curiously, is among the composer's most popular. These particular performances have a very special beauty, partly the result of superb performances by all concerned, and partly due to the positively luminous recording quality. It's so pretty as pure sound, it's almost hypnotic. Those interested in this tiny but popular Vivaldian niche need look no farther.

During the summer of 1989, oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi together with bassoonist Alberto Grazzi founded Zefiro, a versatile ensemble specialized in 18th century music predominantly featuring wind instruments. Zefiro soon made a name for itself worldwide, and to celebrate its thirty years of activity Arcana is releasing an elegant 10-CD set of their complete recordings of baroque music. From the ensemble’s first disc (Sonatas by Zelenka - Grand Prix du Disque), the compilation alternates recordings of repertoire composers and pieces that have become absolute points of reference, such as the Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos, Handel’s Fireworks (Diapason d’or de l’année 2009) or the Bach Overtures (judged by Gramaphone to be one of the 50 best Bach recordings of all time).

This unique anthology of Baroque flute concertos on six CDs contains not only sensational collections featuring virtuoso recorder concertos of the German, Italian, and English Baroque but also the complete solo recorder concertos of Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and Georg Philipp Telemann. Telemanns two very different Concertos in F major and C major, for example, number among the most outstanding Baroque compositions of all for the recorder in a concerto role. Michael Schneider currently has no real rivals worldwide on his instrument. In his hands the recorder loses what so often limits its expressive capacity and gains a voice articulating all the musical facets. The complete eighteenth-century repertoire of recorder concertos or most of it is now available in performances by Schneider.

Following our collection of German baroque virtuosic recorder concertos two years ago, Michael Schneider now turns to baroque Italy. Schneider shows just what wonderful recorder discoveries can be made in Italy in addition to Vivaldi's works, which he has also presented on cpo.

Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert take a refined look at Christmas Concertos from the baroque masters. So that's Vivaldi, Handel, Corelli and plenty more.

This set of trio sonatas dates from 1727, the year before Sammartini moved to London where he became one of the leading composers in England until his death. Rooted in the late Baroque, these works show the composer's skilled contrapuntism and gift for lyricism and melody.