Bach’s music society, the Collegium Musicum of Leipzig (founded 1702, by none other than G.P.Telemann), often met for coffee at the coffee house of Gottfried Zimmermann, also frequently attended by professional musicians and university students. Ah, some things in this world don’t change at all. The drinking was naturally accompanied with music. These were divided between small-scale pieces such as harpsichord concertos and chamber pieces, and large-scale open-air festive cantatas held outside the house. Sounds kinda more engaging than piped radio music.

Oper und Oratorium waren für Ludwig van Beethoven, den Revolutionär auf dem Gebiet der Instrumentalmusik, Nebenschauplätze – oder doch nicht? Immerhin zeigt sich Fidelio als Höhepunkt der spätklassischen Oper, und im Jahre 1803 erklang erstmals Beethovens Oratorium "Christus am Ölberge" – heute immer noch ein selten gespieltes Ausnahmewerk, von dem höchstens Auszüge in vielen Aufnahmen verbreitet sind. Die Tenor-Arie "Jehova, du mein Vater" etwa ist hin und wieder im Rahmen von Künstlerporträts auf CD zu hören. Der Kölner Dirigent Christoph Spering, den man mit Fug und Recht als Pionier auf dem Gebiet des klassisch-romantischen Vokalrepertoires bezeichnen kann, legt nun eine Aufnahme des Werkes in authentischer Praxis vor.

The start of another Hyperion Lieder series is always cause for celebration. In advance of his bicentenary in 2011, we turn to a composer whose songs, against the vast bulk of his compositions in larger genres, were considered insignificant for well over a century.

The J.S. Bach Foundation has embarked on a remarkable undertaking: over a period of some 25 years, the Foundation will perform the complete vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Each month, one of the over 200 Bach cantatas is performed in the idyllic town of Trogen in Appenzell, Switzerland. With a rhythm of 12 cantatas per year, the project is estimated to conclude in the year 2030. All introductory workshops, concerts and reflection lectures on the cantata texts are recorded; the texts of the lectures are published in a continually expanding Bach Anthology.

Franz Liszt was 67 when he composed his Via Crucis, yet it did not receive its first performance until 1929, 43 years after the composer’s death. This work of his mature years is in 15 sections, retracing the Stations of the Cross that mark the stages of Christ’s Passion, from being condemned to death to being laid in the tomb. Combining Gregorian chant, the Lutheran liturgy and the Latin, German and Aramaic languages, the Via Crucis shows real formal originality. A devout believer, Liszt gives us here his most important sacred work. He composed several versions: for mixed choir, soloists and organ (with the organ part optionally transcribed for piano), for piano solo, organ solo, and two pianos.

The J.S. Bach Foundation has embarked on a remarkable undertaking: over a period of some 25 years, the Foundation will perform the complete vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Each month, one of the over 200 Bach cantatas is performed in the idyllic town of Trogen in Appenzell, Switzerland. With a rhythm of 12 cantatas per year, the project is estimated to conclude in the year 2030. All introductory workshops, concerts and reflection lectures on the cantata texts are recorded; the texts of the lectures are published in a continually expanding Bach Anthology. The main aim of the J.S. Bach Foundation's ambitious project is to provide a living Bach experience for today's listeners and to deepen our understanding of the great composer's works.

The J.S. Bach Foundation has embarked on a remarkable undertaking: over a period of some 25 years, the Foundation will perform the complete vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Each month, one of the over 200 Bach cantatas is performed in the idyllic town of Trogen in Appenzell, Switzerland. With a rhythm of 12 cantatas per year, the project is estimated to conclude in the year 2030. All introductory workshops, concerts and reflection lectures on the cantata texts are recorded; the texts of the lectures are published in a continually expanding Bach Anthology.

Regarded in his day as equal to Handel and Telemann, Reinhard Keiser composed more than one hundred operas, of which Fredegund , set partly in German and partly in Italian, was one of the most popular. It explores the politically volatile relationships between the sixth century Frankish king, Chilperich, whose ambitious mistress Fredegunda is prepared to use magic to become his queen, although Chilperich is betrothed to Princess Galsuinde and Fredegunda also has a secret relationship with Langerich. This important and entertaining German Baroque opera abounds in melodious, often ravishingly orchestrated, music.

Recorded in 1995 this album has never been one of the "hits" by German countertenor Andreas Scholl. It covers a repertoire that was (and remains) virtually unknown, and it doesn't really play to the sentimental side of Scholl's personality. Nevertheless, this is one of his very best releases, and even casual Scholl fans who missed it the first time around are advised to pick it up. In 1995 he was in absolutely prime voice, and even though he here has few of the pure melodies in which he excels, he finds plenty of subtle ways to deploy it in text expression and in delineating unusual harmonic moves.