The Habsburg Imperial Court was a melting pot of many different cultures in which the zest for living of southerners, the Slav melancholy, French formalism, Spanish courtliness and the original German-speaking Alpine cultural region intermingled. Together with his Ars Antiqua Austria ensemble, Gunar Letzbor occupied himself over a ten year period to produce this 10CD "Klang der Kulturen" box, a musical tour of the individual countries that formed the roots of and influences on the music of baroque Vienna, documenting them in live recordings, with each CD representing one country.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields was founded in 1959 by Sir Neville Marriner and a group of London’s leading orchestral players. Originally formed as a small conductorless string group, it spearheaded the 1950’s Baroque revival.

There is hidden treasure here. Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749) has long lain in the shadow of Bach and Telemann, but if there is any justice this recording of his setting of one of the popular passion texts of the early 18th century will go far toward effecting long overdue recognition. Composed in 1725, it follows in the wake of a number of other versions of the poetry of Barthold Heinrich Brockes, most notably that of Handel, whose comparitively second-rate work pales into near insignificance when set beside the power and vivid immediacy of Stölzel's great drama.