In recent years the rich musical life at the court of the Crown Prince and later King Frederick (the Great) of Prussia has been extensively explored. This has resulted in discs devoted to the music of the Benda and Graun brothers and composers like Quantz and Schaffrath. There is still much to discover, for instance the music of Christoph Nichelmann, Christian Friedrich Schale and Georg Czarth. Johann Gottlieb Janitsch also figures among the masters of what has been called the Berlin School.

Masterpieces Played by Masters asserts the back cover of this reissue confidently. That gives the wrong idea of the flavor of this little disc of chamber music from the middle eighteenth century, originally recorded in 1978. The instruments are all either of the relevant period or copies of such, making this one of the earlier applications of historical-performance principles to pre-Classical music. The "Masters" part of the equation is justifiable enough; flutist Barthold Kuijken and the other players involved all had long careers in the Dutch heartland of the historical-performance movement, and, unlike so many other players trained primarily in the Baroque repertory, they take naturally to the light charm of the pieces played here.