The Berliner Barock Solisten ensemble, founded by members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the then concertmaster Rainer Kussmaul, has set itself the task of cultivating historically informed performance practice with modern instruments. It was these very violin concertos that were featured on the ensemble’s first CD recording.

Anticipating the 50th anniversary of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2022, we present their complete recordings on DG. The intriguing sound culture of Orpheus, especially of the string section, is often explained as a result of the cooperative mindset of the orchestra and its artistic process of rehearsing.

Perlman's Four Seasons was recorded in 1976 in London's Abbey Road Studios. This was before the period instruments craze had gotten up to full steam. Perlman and the London Philharmonic play unrepentantly on modern instruments and in a modern style, albeit not without Baroque savvy. Expansive tempos and rich, vibrato-generous sonorities make this recording a good choice for listeners who don't seek the astringencies of period performance, or who simply want to take a musical bubble bath in this repertoire.

This series of CDs by Tactus and Modo Antiquo represents the first complete recording of the cantatas of Antonio Vivaldi. Up until now, these works have appeared only sporadically on record, yet they constitute quite an important body of works in Vivaldi’s total production. Dedicated exclusively to female voices, the cantatas have here been divided according to the classifications used in the Ryom catalogue: cantatas for soprano and continuo, cantatas for contralto and continuo, cantatas for soprano and instruments, cantatas for contralto and instruments. Modo Antiquo has approached this first complete recording of the cantatas by Vivaldi with full respect for the original texts and the performance practices of the period.

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.

Teresa Berganza Vargas is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence, and beguiling stage presence.

This marvellous set of concertos for one, two and four violins calls for a group of well-matched (not cloned) soloists who can also work together in the chamber-musical manner the music calls for—and in Monica Huggett, Catherine Mackintosh, Elizabeth Wilcock and John Holloway that is precisely what you get here. Every last detail is clearly etched in textures of wonderful clarity, intonation is as nearly perfect as humans are wont to achieve, dynamics (and contrasts thereof) are arrestingly controlled, whilst never sounding forced or unnatural.

One of 110 concertos for violin by Antonio Vivaldi housed in Turin (there are a total of 230 in existence). Vivaldi’s violin concertos display a wealth of variety and imagination and tend to demand great technical skill.

This is a delightfull performance of some of Vivaldi's best known concertos, but don't be put off if you already have most of them, baroque music is all about interpretation, much pleasure can be had from listening to different ones.

Gelosia! (Jealousy!), Philippe Jaroussky’s latest project with the instrumentalists of Artaserse, takes its dramatic name from two solo cantatas receiving world premiere recordings. Programmed beside cantatas by Vivaldi, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti, they are by the Neapolitan Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) and the Venetian Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785). Though composed some 35 years apart, both cantatas set the same text, ‘La Gelosia’, written by the prolific Pietro Metastasio.

Among various instrumental works composed by Vivaldi, there are twenty-seven trio sonatas, most of them written for two violins - either with or without continuo. Twelve of these sonatas were published in 1705 by the Venetian music publisher, Giuseppe Sala in a collection entitled Suonate da Camera a Tre, due Violini, e Violone o Cembalo. This Opus 1 collection contains the earliest known sonatas by Vivaldi. As indicated on the title-page of the collection, they could be played by two violins and violoncello (originally a violone) or by two violins and harpsichord.

'L’incoronazione di Dario' must be considered one of Vivaldi’s most successful operas. Immediately opening with exceptional arias, it moves at a rapid pace, holding the listener’s attention throughout. Recitatives are interspersed with arioso interludes and there no less than eight 'big' numbers sure to join the ranks of 'Vivaldi’s best opera arias'. The excellent cast acts out this drama with conviction: Anders Dahlin’s sings Dario, with impeccable intonation and stunning coloratura passages; Sara Mingardo, as Statira, brings great depth and beauty, most especially in her Act 2 solo Cantata accompanied only by viola da gamba.

While Vivaldi remains most well known as a composer of his own instrument, the violin, his cello concerti are masterpieces of the baroque era and demonstrate his profound sensitivity and facility for writing for the cello. Although none were published in his own lifetime, Vivaldi's cello concerti are little gems of the baroque literature, and this recording does not disappoint. In this, the first of four volumes of Vivaldi's cello concerti, Rapael Wallfisch on solo cello, delivers a fresh and lively performance, beautifully balanced by the accompanying City of London Simphonia and Nicholas Kraimer on the Harpsichord.

Following two recent volumes of flute concertos by Vivaldi, Naxos have now released a delightful disc of his complete concertos for recorder. Contained on this CD are Vivaldi’s three concertos for soprano recorder and two concertos for treble recorder. An added bonus is the smaller scale chamber concerto RV 95 ‘La Pastorella’, in which certain interchangeable solo instruments can be used, although for this recording the recorder has been selected.

Part of the fun of following developments in Baroque music is that, while the press is reduced to trying to work up excitement for the merest scrap of music potentially by Mozart or Beethoven, unknown masterpieces by the likes of Vivaldi are still surfacing with regularity. This release by the energetic French label Naïve (check out the wild cover photo, apparently of contralto Sonia Prina) is a case in point. Conductor Ottavio Dantone and his Accademia Bizantina ensemble, prime exponents of the rocking and rolling school of Italian Baroque interpreters, here uncover a dozen arias drawn from little-known Vivaldi manuscripts, or inserted as alternate numbers into existing operas.