Handel's 'Messiah' is one of the most sung oratorios in the world and its great choruses and arias can be heard on countless classical collections. From its premiere to the present day, this great sacred work enjoys almost unbroken popularity and has always fascinated audiences and musicians alike. In the chapter "Resurrection of George Frideric Handel" of his book "Decisive Moments in History", Stefan Zweig provides a particularly colourful description of Handel’s "Messiah". Starting from the fresh spirit of the work, he creates a lively story that lets the reader look over his shoulder as he composes the work. In it, he illustrates the timelessness and special position of this great composition in the context of music history.

The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. For this purpose it comprises the instrumentalists and up to four vocalists per voice, including the soloists, all specialists in their field, as Bach himself wished it. This is a vision that only now can be fulfilled in it's ideal form. To this day the music will inspire it's audience to devotion, challenge them to reflect and make them glad. It addresses questions of faith and comes to terms with particular situations of human life.The Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is performing all these cantatas in chronological order exactly 300 years later. The performances follow the latest state of Bach research documented in the new 2022 catalogue of Bach's works BWV3.

"Rademann conducts with feeling and strives for a round and harmonious sound. The musicians of the GaechingerCantorey play excellently and show that historically informed performance practice and Romantic music-making are not necessarily mutually exclusive.necessarily mutually exclusive. It is the result that counts. And that is more than convincing with Rademann and his Cantorey.Above all, because the listener can't get enough of it."pizzicato

The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. For this purpose it comprises the instrumentalists and up to four vocalists per voice, including the soloists, all specialists in their field, as Bach himself wished it. This is a vision that only now can be fulfilled in its ideal form. To this day the music will inspire its audience to devotion, challenge them to reflect and make them glad. It addresses questions of faith and comes to terms with particular situations of human life. The Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is performing all these cantatas in chronological order exactly 300 years later. The performances follow the latest state of Bach research documented in the new 2022 catalogue of Bach’s works BWV3.

Johann Sebastian Bach arrived in Leipzig on May 22, 1723. Just eight days later, on May 30, Bach presented his first cantata. On every Sunday and feast day outside the periods of Advent and Lent preceding Christmas and Easter respectively, it was the task of the Thomaskantor to direct such pieces in the churches. Bach composed the cantatas himself. This was not one of his duties. It testifies all the more to the passion and the enthusiasm with which he went about his new assignment. Of the cantatas performed up to Trinity Sunday, 1724, some sixety have survived: the completely new works are supplemented by pieces from earlier stages in Bach's career, notably at Mühlhausen and Weimar.

The Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is performing all these cantatas in chronological order exactly 300 years later. The 23 concerts in all are taking place in and around Stuttgart; the refined live recordings are being released in this CD series on the Hanssler Classic label. The performances follow the latest state of Bach research documented in the new 2022 catalogue of Bach's works BWV3. The ensemble of the Bachakademie, the Gaechinger Cantorey, plays under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann. For this purpose it comprises the instrumentalists and up to four vocalists per voice, including the soloists, all specialists in their field, as Bach himself wished it. This is a vision that only now can be fulfilled in its ideal form. To this day the music will inspire its audience to devotion, challenge them to reflect and make them glad. It addresses questions of faith and comes to terms with particular situations of human life.

Handel's Utrecht Te Deum HWV 278 was already enthusiastically received at its first performance in 1713 in St. Paul's in London. To celebrate peace after twelve years of Spanish War of Succession, Handel composed a captivating Te Deum and Jubilate. A British national composer was born!

Johann Sebastian Bach arrived in Leipzig on May 22, 1723. After peaceful years in the small residence town of Cöthen he was moving to the busy mercantile and university city, forsaking the office of Capellmeister at the princely court for the post of Cantor, as he was to call it. Just eight days later, on May 30, Bach presented his first cantata. On every Sunday and feast day outside the periods of Advent and Lent preceding Christmas and Easter respectively, it was the task of the Thomaskantor to direct such pieces in the churches of St. Nicolai and St. Thomas in turn.

Scheins 1623 in Leipzig gedruckte Sammlung Israelsbrünnlein ist eine kompositorische Gipfelleistung, nicht nur innerhalb des Schaffens des seit 1616 in Leipzig als Thomaskantor wirkenden Komponisten, sondern darüber hinaus auch der deutschen Musik der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts. Unter den 26 "auf Italian-Madrigalische Manir" geschriebenen Motetten finden sich 23 auf alttestamentarische Texte (Psalmen, die Mose-Bücher, das Hohelied und andere Bücher des Alten Testaments) komponierte, was der Sammlung den Namen gab. Hans-Christoph Rademann und der Dresdner Kammerchor legen hier eine Referenzeinspielung der kompletten Sammlung vor.

Dresden was a music capital of European rank during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which means that this German city and baroque music have a common history. It was in Dresden that important composers and musicians of the time lived and worked. In 1991 graduates of the Dresden College of Music discovered their shared interest in this musical epoch and founded the Dresden Baroque Orchestra. Its members are committed to offering energetic interpretations on baroque instruments in keeping with the tenets of historical performance practice and to the rediscovery of forgotten works from the collection of the Dresden court chapel – top priorities for them that have also become their trademarks.

The early musical experiences of Puccini and Verdi, those two giants of Italian opera, were in fact gained in the field of sacred music. In 1880, at the age of 22, Puccini composed his Messa a 4 voci as a graduation exercise. When still a schoolboy, the 45-year older Verdi stood in for the organist in his home village; at the end of this life, he returned to church music, writing his Quattro pezzi sacri in the 1890s at the age of over 80. The Messa of the younger composer – which was believed lost until 1952 – is a joyful and scintillating work. Artistically, Verdi’s powerful and intense Pezzi sacri can be placed on an equal standing with his beloved operas.

Die Messe in h-Moll von Johann Sebastian Bach ist eine der zentralen geistlichen Vokalkompositionen der Musikgeschichte. Hans-Christoph Rademann widmet nun seine erste CD als Leiter der Internationalen Bachakademie Stuttgart diesem herausragenden Werk und setzt zusammen mit der Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart und dem Freiburger Barockorchester sowie renommierten Solisten auf dem Gebiet der historisch informierten Aufführungspraxis in künstlerischer Hinsicht Maßstäbe.

Under the baton of the new chief conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin are performing famous Motets by Johann Sebastian Bach, interspersed with some fine instrumental works of the composer. Founded in 1948, the choir enjoys today a worldwide reputation as one of the best ensembles of its kind.