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.

In the rich musical life of early 18th century Prague, the Advent and Christmas seasons formed a chapter unto themselves. Their specific repertoire consisted not only of the themes of this liturgical season (including a strong element of the Marian cult), but also of special liturgical and musical forms. In both songs and figural music Czech suddenly appeared side by side with Latin, along with elements of folk religion and culture.

German Baroque composer Johann Friedrich Fasch organized a music exchange service between Dresden, Darmstadt, Hamburg, and other cities, which allowed him to know exactly what was new and upcoming. His style, then, often seems to be rooted in his own period, while looking forward to the classical era. He enjoyed writing for the chalumeau, an early French two-keyed clarinet, and this mellow yet agile instrument is featured on three of the pieces here, most notably the concerto in B-flat. Gili Rinot proves a worthy player of this curious instrument, playing with virtuoso flair, yet able to float long, lyrical lines so lovely and sweetly that they seem to hang in the air.

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).

Nach dem Tod des Dresdner Konzertmeisters Johann Georg Pisendel 1755 ließ Kurfürstin Maria Josepha dessen musikalischen Nachlass aufkaufen. In der Dresdner Hofkirche, in einem großen Schrank mit der Nummer II, wurde der musikalische Schatz aus eigenen und fremden Kompositionen eingelagert und hat sich über die Jahrhunderte hinweg erhalten. Nur ein geringer Teil dieses Repertoires ist allerdings bislang gesichtet, geschweige denn eingespielt worden, so dass die Batzdorfer Hofkapelle mit einigen Weltersteinspielungen aufwarten kann.

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) was a forward-looking musician who, though a contemporary of Bach, anticipated Haydn and Mozart in the classical style of his compositions. In his younger years he held several positions before he became the music director for the chapel at the court in Zerbst, where he remained for 36 years. He also enjoyed a close connection with Dresden musicians, chiefly with the concertmaster of the Dresden court orchestra, Pisendel. These works are thought to have been some of Fasch's many compositions for the famous orchestra at Dresden.

Johann Friedrich Fasch was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, and that has seriously hampered the interest in his music. It was the German musicologist Hugo Riemann, who at the beginning of the 20th century made an attempt to restore his reputation.

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.

Michael Schneider is one of the top recorder players in the field of early music and he is the ideal interpreter of these Concertos of the German Baroque. Amongst concertos by Graupner, Schickhardt, Schultze, and Scheibe, Schneider performs the World Première Recordings of recorder concertos by Johann Friedrich Fasch and Mattheus Nikolaus Stulick.

Si Vivaldi et Lully sont les génies avérés de l’époque et ont su marquer l’Histoire en faisant de l’Italie et de la France les modèles incontestés, l’Allemagne n’a pas simplement produit de pâles imitations. La « polyphonie savante et rigoureuse » — si caractéristique du style allemand — rayonne à travers les compositions de Georg Philipp Telemann et Johann Friedrich Fasch. Les sonates et concertos présents dans ce disque sont des œuvres novatrices pour l’époque, tantôt par une richesse musicale en désaccord avec les objectifs fixés (sonate d’Église), tantôt par l’audace de la composition.

During the first half of the eighteenth century the Dresden court orchestra enjoyed international renown. Its excellence was on a par with those at Berlin, Paris and Vivaldi’s orchestra of ladies at the Pieta in Venice. The Enlightenment philosopher and amateur musician, Rousseau, rated it the most accomplished and best organized ensemble in Europe – and he had heard most of the competition. The Dresden achievement was largely thanks to Pisendel, who directed the court orchestra for over a quarter of a century and whose prowess as a violin virtuoso was probably unrivalled in Germany during his lifetime. Pisendel travelled, he knew Vivaldi and doubtless many other foreign musicians too, and he amassed a considerable number of their compositions which he copied or brought back with him to Dresden.

Johann Friedrich Fasch might, on the surface, seem like the very model of a minor Baroque composer. Settling in a post in the remote Saxon town of Zerbst in 1722, Fasch labored there for 36 years, producing over 100 orchestral suites and at least 63 concertos in addition to other kinds of works. The only prominent exposure Fasch has enjoyed in modern times is through a couple of concertos included on the famous "purple Pachelbel" recording circulated by RCA Victor and featuring Jean-François Paillard and his orchestra. These were so-so concertos, and their inclusion didn't necessarily help the reputation of the composer.

Fasch Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 is the third and concluding volume in Tempesta di Mare's series of orchestral works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, a contemporary of J.S. Bach and Telemann. In his day, the works of Fasch (cantatas, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music) were performed extensively across the German-speaking world. J.S. Bach, who arranged at least one of his trio sonatas for organ, held Fasch in great esteem. Tempesta di Mare, Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, performs the music on baroque instruments with 'zest and virtuosity that transcends style and instrumentation'.

This is Volume 2 in Chandos' series of orchestral works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, a contemporary of J.S. Bach and Telemann. In his day, his output in terms of cantatas, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music was performed extensively across the German-speaking world, and Fasch was held in great esteem by Bach who owned copies of six of his orchestral suites, and arranged at least one of his piano trio sonatas for organ.

The Swedish trumpet-player Niklas Eklund, born in Göteborg (Gothenburg) in 1969, trained at the School of Music and Musicology of Göteborg University. Further studies took place under the tutelage of Edward H. Tarr at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. After five years as solo trumpet with the Basle Radio Symphony Orchestra, he left the orchestra in the autumn of 1996 to further his career as a soloist. Since then he has appeared with leading ensembles and conductors such as Zubin Metha, John Eliot Gardiner, Heinz Holliger, András Schiff, Robert King, Eric Ericson, Reinhard Goebel, Gustav Leonhardt, the London Baroque, the Bach Ensemble (New York), the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble and the English Baroque Soloists.