Tenor Julian Prégardien certainly has plenty of competition with this recording of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795. However, his entry into the field is distinctive in several ways and can stand with any of the other recent ones. Lieder buffs will remember that the singer's father, Christoph Prégardien, not only recorded this cycle but did so with a historically oriented pianist, Andreas Staier, at a time (1992) when historical performances of Schubert were not so common. Julian's second-generation recording certainly has a "family resemblance," but it is no knockoff, and it has several key attractions.

This first release in an exclusive recital collaboration with harmonia mundi presents Julian Prégardien’s reading of a cycle that explores quintessentially Schubertian themes: nature, love, solitude, death. Taking full advantage of the unique timbres of a Graf-style fortepiano, the young German tenor and Kristian Bezuidenhout create an expressive palette of exceptional variety, full of striking contrasts.

A fantasy that turned into a symphony? First and foremost, this double album enshrines the exemplary work of an ensemble whose designation 'Baroque Orchestra' by no means limits it's excursions into later repertories: under the watchful eye of a gifted conductor, the 'Freiburgers' (and co.) offer us a profoundly renewed vision of the Ninth, that myth among myths, that touchstone of a genre in quest of the absolute - and the direct descendant of a much earlier 'Choral Fantasy'. The latter work showcased one of Beethoven's most extraordinary talents: improvisation. Kristian Bezuidenhout has joined forces again with his concerto partners to let us experience this little-known score as if it had just been premiered… then transcribed by Beethoven himself!

The Baroque dream team of Rachel Podger and Kristian Bezuidenhout interpret the astonishing music of C.P.E. Bach’s Violin Sonatas in C Minor, B Minor, D Major and G Minor. The two early sonatas here from the 1730s resemble the older style of his father. Listening to these works, you can imagine J.S. Bach glancing over Emanuel's shoulders while he wrote them as a teenager at home in Leipzig. The later sonatas, written 30 to 50 years later, reveal an emancipated composer whose developed musical language embodies the 'Empfindsamer Stil', the directly emotional and rhetorical style characteristic of northern-german music of the time.

From the youthful Concerto no.6 (1776) to the almost testamentary Concerto no.25 (1786), Mozart’s style underwent considerable evolution. In ten years, the young prodigy gave way to a master fully aware that he was opening up new horizons for the genre. With this fourth album in their series, Kristian Bezuidenhout and the Freiburger Barockorchester continue their exploration of a corpus visited so many times before; but with them, we have the impression we are rediscovering each note as if it were the first time.

Few violinists can move between a modern instrument and a period one with such ease—not to mention with such an idiomatic approach to so many styles of music—as Isabelle Faust. Following her award-winning set of the Mozart violin concertos, the German is joined by the ever-stylish keyboard player Kristian Bezuidenhout for Bach’s sonatas for violin and harpsichord. Both instruments sound magnificent, and these two great players bring breathtaking invention and imagination to the six sonatas. The humanity and warmth of Bach’s music is extraordinary, especially when played with the passion and flair encountered here.

The Baroque dream team of Rachel Podger and Kristian Bezuidenhout interpret the astonishing music of C.P.E. Bach’s Violin Sonatas in C Minor, B Minor, D Major and G Minor. The two early sonatas here from the 1730s resemble the older style of his father. Listening to these works, you can imagine J.S. Bach glancing over Emanuel's shoulders while he wrote them as a teenager at home in Leipzig. The later sonatas, written 30 to 50 years later, reveal an emancipated composer whose developed musical language embodies the 'Empfindsamer Stil', the directly emotional and rhetorical style characteristic of northern-german music of the time.

For those new to Mendelssohn's music, this might look like a recording of some major works of the composer; be aware that they're virtually unknown music of Mendelssohn's early teens, first published in complete form only in 1999. For those already a fan of Mendelssohn, however, they're very intriguing works that show the developing talents of the young composer in a different light than do the set of twelve-string symphonies that are his most frequently performed works of the period.

After the first two instalments, highly praised by the press – ‘one of the finest, most . . . thrilling performances of [the] Fourth Concerto’, wrote Gramophone – Kristian Bezuidenhout, Pablo Heras-Casado and the Freiburger Barockorchester close their Beethoven trilogy with the classical yet already eminently personal Concerto no.1, and that masterpiece of intensity and drama, Concerto no.3. Once again, period instruments and historically informed performance practice reveal the astonishing modernity that early listeners found in these works.

The origins of these concertos, performed here by Kristian Bezuidenhout, may each be traced to a woman. The so-called “Jeunehomme” Concerto, K. 271, a vehicle for rather unexpected musical daring, could instead take its nickname from the work’s dedicatee: the piano virtuoso Louise Victoire Jenamy, daughter of Mozart’s old friend, the dancer Noverre. As for K. 456, cast in a more traditional mould yet so elaborate and seductive, it was apparently composed for Maria Theresia von Paradis, a blind pianist acclaimed throughout Europe. Two works distinctly different in character, while somehow being aptly complementary…

Mark Padmore and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout combine here to perform two of Schumann’s major cycles to words by Heine. They also throw in a selection of five Heine settings by the largely forgotten Franz Lachner (1803-90) from his Sängerfahrt (Singer’s Journey), which include the same text – ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’ – with which Schumann’s Dichterliebe begins.

Mendelssohn's first symphonic work scored for full orchestra, the Symphony Op.11 in C minor, paved the way for even greater examples of the genre he was soon to produce. The concert overture Die schöne Melusine and the sparkling Piano Concerto No.2 rely on the type of orchestration and harmonic language that are best served when played on period instruments, as heard here. Devoid of the atmosphere of Romantic doom and gloom, nearly every page of both scores is marked by an exuberant cheerfulness, youthful drive and irrepressible energy in these splendid performances from fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout and the Freiburger Barockorchester led by Pablo Heras-Casado.

After the first two instalments, highly praised by the press – ‘one of the finest, most . . . thrilling performances of [the] Fourth Concerto’, wrote Gramophone – Kristian Bezuidenhout, Pablo Heras-Casado and the Freiburger Barockorchester close their Beethoven trilogy with the classical yet already eminently personal Concerto no.1, and that masterpiece of intensity and drama, Concerto no.3. Once again, period instruments and historically informed performance practice reveal the astonishing modernity that early listeners found in these works!