Listeners used to the Hanover Band will need no prompting to buy this excellent series of performances, excellently recorded. They avoid some of the more quirky and, to some, off-putting aspects of period performance. There are no ugly bulges of tone and wirey shafts of under-nourished violin tone. The wind and brass play bang in tune and the instruments are fully under the control of these top players.

The contralto Nathalie Stutzmann was not yet 30 years of age when she made this extraordinarily dramatic recording of arias from Handels Italian operas. It showcases her impressive depth of tone, a voice of tremendous indeed, in these days, almost unrivalled projection that inevitably brings to mind the great contraltos of yore from Clara Butt to Marian Anderson. Stutzmann was, and remains, however, an entirely modern artist, who has continued to innovate in her choice of repertoire and musical partners.

A celebration of the Royal Philharmonic Society's 175th Season as 'An Evening with the Philharmonic' with music from concerts recreating original programmes between 1813 and 1837.

For the first time it is possible to present the orchestra music os Beethoven to the listening public of today in a form which he would recognise. For the Hanover Band is an orchestra of 29 specialist performers on late 18th-century instruments, a classical orchestra modelled in size and type on the Burgtheater orchestra in theVienna of 1800.

For the first time it is possible to present the orchestra music os Beethoven to the listening public of today in a form which he would recognise. For the Hanover Band is an orchestra of 29 specialist performers on late 18th-century instruments, a classical orchestra modelled in size and type on the Burgtheater orchestra in theVienna of 1800 which Beethoven engaged for the premiere of these two works.

There isn't exactly a shortage of Rossini overture recordings on the market, but there are surprisingly few of them done on period instruments in historically informed performances. For the past couple of decades the two leading contenders in this specialized field have been Roy Goodman's recording with the Hanover Band, reissued here by Newton Classics, and Roger Norrington's renditions with the London Classical Players on EMI (now Warner Classics). Of the two, Norrington is probably the more refined, more cultured, but I've never been entirely sure that was what every prospective buyer of a period-instruments recording wanted. Goodman's accounts appear just as well played but a bit more rustic and bucolic. It's good to have them back in this mid-priced release.

“JS Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord & strings, occupy a significant place in the history of music, marking as they do the origin of the keyboard concerto genre. Collectively, they encompass the gamut of Baroque rhetorical expression; indeed, leaving aside the six ground- breaking ‘Brandenburg’ Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, it is difficult to think of a more diverse, revolutionary and technically refined set of instrumental concertos from the Baroque period” - Andrew Arthur

The German label CPO, consistently dedicated to underappreciated music, has brought along many recordings of unfamiliar works ranging in status from central to the literature to wholly unworthy of revival. One of the most distinguished, and consequential, projects that CPO has undertaken is its recording of the complete Symphonies Concertantes of Johann Christian Bach as performed by the Hanover Band under Anthony Halstead.

These splendid performances from Anthony Halstead directing the Hanover Band from the keyboard are appealingly fluent, full of flair and vitality… His solo playing is very persuasive and the result is delightfully intimate.

The brief biographical note duplicated in each of the three booklets (these CDs were previously available separately and were recorded over several years) tell a rather sad tale of yet another famous and successful composer destined to die young, in debt, and unmourned by a hard-hearted public. That he was a close friend of none other than Mozart for twenty years of his short life draws the parallel still closer. It is too easy to see the post J.S.Bach period as one consisting of a gap followed by Haydn and Mozart. In fact the sons of Bach included several very fine musicians indeed; Johann Christian is one, with the other most significant being Carl Philipp Emanuel. These two have only to be heard to alert the listener to their importance. Sons of Bach they may have been, but clones they were not.

“JS Bach’s seven concertos for solo harpsichord & strings, BWV 1052-1058, occupy a significant place in the history of music, marking as they do the origin of the keyboard concerto genre. Collectively, they encompass the gamut of Baroque rhetorical expression; indeed, leaving aside the six ground-breaking ‘Brandenburg’ Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, it is difficult to think of a more diverse, revolutionary and technically refined set of instrumental concertos from the Baroque period” – Andrew Arthur

Nathalie Stutzmann is regarded as one of the most remarkable musical personalities of our time and one of a few genuine contralto voices.