Trevor Pinnock is one of the world's leading exponents of historical performance practice, and this collection of Baroque keyboard favorites is one of his most successful attempts to communicate his musical values to a broad audience. These popular works are often anthologized, but seldom have they sounded as fresh and exciting as they do here. Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith and Bach's Italian Concerto are the best known of these selections, though Pinnock's playing liberates them from their use as flashy encore pieces and instead treats them as more intimate entertainments. François Couperin's magical Les baricades mistérieuses and Rameau's Gavotte Variations are also well known, and their inclusion on any disc of the harpsichord's "greatest hits" is de rigueur. Domenico Scarlatti's two Sonatas in E major are still brilliant, even at the lower tuning (A=415). The remaining works of this collection are perhaps less-widely heard, but each offers insights into both Pinnock's interpretive skills and the instrument's wealth of possibilities.

This is a really great five-CD set. You get all of Bach's concertos except the Brandenburgs - which is a shame because Pinnock's Brandenburgs are terrific. Nonetheless, this remains an absolutely cracking collection of some of Bach's most enjoyable music in excellent performances. In the Harpsichord Concertos Pinnock is himself the soloist and shows why he is such a very well-liked and highly regarded musician. The music springs to life under his fingers (and under his direction) and many of these performances set new and enduring standards when first released in the early 1980s. They have informed much subsequent Bach playing and have worn extremely well themselves, sounding as fresh and involving as they did nearly 30 years ago. He is joined by other fine harpsichordists in the concerti for two, three and four harpsichords, (Kenneth Gilbert, Nicholas Kraemer and Lars Ulrich Mortensen) and the Concerto for Four Harpsichords in particular is an absolute joy.

Belshazzar (HWV 61) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. The libretto was by Charles Jennens, and Handel abridged it considerably. Jennens' libretto was based on the Biblical account of the fall of Babylon at the hands of Cyrus the Great and the subsequent freeing of the Jewish nation, as found in the Book of Daniel.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

'When we speak of Joseph Haydn,' wrote Ernst Ludwig Gerber in his Lexicon der Tonkunstler of 1790-92, 'we think of one of our greatest men: great in small things and even greater in large… Everything speaks when he sets his orchestra in motion.' Gerber was among the first to recognise 'new and surprising' traits in Haydn's output, particularly among his Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) works of the early 1770s. Espousing spontaneity and passion as sources of creativity, Sturm und Drang despised the new rationalism of the Enlightenment, offering darkness and pessimism to counterpoise its orderly logic.

This DG Archiv compilation, subtitled “Christmas in Rome” was recorded by English forces directed by Trevor Pinnock a quarter of a century ago in the resonant acoustic of the magnificent church of Santa Maria Maggiore and has worn very well. It comprises three festive works from contemporaneous, Italian baroque composers, although the Scarlatti item is certainly less familiar or celebrated than the other two. Nonetheless, it is worthy to stand alongside them, sweetly and elegantly sung by Nancy Argenta’s silvery (sic) soprano. The forces employed throughout are not large but the performers are robust and energetic, without being frantic, and the astringent original instruments are well tuned.

In comparison with their contemporary, Telemann, German composers such as Fasch, Graupner, Heinichen and Stolzel enjoy a dimin ished profile among present-day concert-goers and music enthusiasts. None of them, admittedly, was anything like so prolific as the Hamburg Director Musices but they all had one thing in common - a fascination with woodwind instruments whose role in concertos and suites was imaginatively developed in their hands. Early on in life Fasch took Telemann as a model, on at least one occasion successfully passing off a piece of his own music as that of the elder composer.

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of Handel's death with this impressive box set. 30-CD box set of the composer's most celebrated works–including the Royal Fireworks and Water Music, The Messiah, concerti grossi and much more! Featuring conductors Sir Neville Marriner, Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock, Mark Minkowski and others. Performances by the Gabrielli Players, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, English Baroque Soloists and others.

This imaginatively-curated, generously-filled Christmas package is sure to find favor during this and future holiday seasons. Why? Because it packs in every conceivable carol, tune, choral work or song in timeless performances from the greatest artists in the world: singers of immense communicative gifts including Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti to name but four. It truly offers something of every Christmas mind, spirit, and looks fantastic.

…the players of the European Brandenburg Ensemble include some of the finest of today's Baroque chamber players, and there is a relaxed expertise about their performances which seems to allow them to communicate directly and without technical or ideological hindrance. This is not a Brandenburg set that sets out to score points, and all that is needed from us is to sit back and enjoy its relaxed, celebratory spirit.

These performances of the three most popular examples of Mozart's youthful sacred music represent a golden age of The English Concert - a period-instrument ensemble founded by harpsichordist and conductor Trevor Pinnock in 1973. They excelled in blowing away the cobwebs from fascinating repertoire from Purcell to Haydn during their fruitful years of collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon's Archiv label. This album also features a choir that is a veritable Who's Who of the booming British early music choral scene in the early 1990s.