"Handel could express the whole cosmos of humanity with his music. He had a passion for opera. The fascinating thing is that, like Mozart, the most profoundly and intensely dramatic music of his is found not in showy tunes, but in the slow and quiet music when his heroes express their anguish and sorrow." (Vesselina Kasarova)

Heinichen was a German composer who received his education at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach was later to teach, serving as assistant to the then cantor, Kuhnau, and proceeding thereafter to the University of Leipzig. After an initial career as a lawyer inWeissenfels, Heinichen returned to musical activity in Leipzig, followed by a period of work and study in Italy. In 1717 he was appointed Court Kapellmeister in Dresden, a position he retained until his death in 1729. Heinichen wrote operas in the earlier part of his career and moved to Italy with the express purpose of studying the art of Italian opera at its source. In addition to opera, his works include instrumental music, serenades, pieces for voices and instruments as well as church music.

This Pavarotti set is a wonderful collection of arias and songs that cover Luciano's great career. Pavarotti is THE Voice of the 20th century and this set does him justice. It includes 10 CDs with over 750 minutes of music and covers all of his roles and includes a bonus CD of Pavarotti's fist album from 1964, which has never been released on CD before. This set is a must have for every Pavarotti fan.

The young French-Swiss cellist Ophélie Gaillard (b.1974) has already met with considerable success in her recordings of the Bach cello suites (Ambroisie AMB9926) and the Britten Sonatas (Ambroisie AMB9927). This recording of the complete Vivaldi sonatas will surely do her reputation nothing but good. She plays with great beauty of tone, sure-footed musical intelligence and considerable vivacity.

Ten years after her Metropolitan Opera debut in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Danielle De Niese sings her favourite Mozart arias as she prepares to return to The Met production. She has personally selected her favourite pieces by this most popular of composers, including well-known favourites from Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as more rarerly heard concert arias.

Danielle de Niese’s “sweet, gleaming soprano,” “phenomenal musicality” and “sharply comic, yet utterly moving acting,” combined with youth and physical presence, have brought her to the edge of a spectacular career. At only 30 years of age, the Australian-born American singer regularly graces many of the world’s most prestigious opera and concert stages, and has an exclusive contract with Decca Records. Her debut solo album, Handel Arias was released to international acclaim in 2007.

This disc presents music by French composers of the 17th and 18th century. Some of it is played instruments other than those for which it was written. Sometimes this means that the compositions have to be arranged in order to fit the instruments on which they are played.
"… these Folies are of the best caliber performances. After their formidable Schenck (The Nymphs of the Rhine), on a par with the greats, Margaret Little and Susie Napper have reached the glorious summit of their art."
Franklin Khazine, Société Française de Viole, March 2003

The album consists of folk and traditional music and songs from Naples, which is not the modern sort of Neapolitan song made popular by Caruso but medieval and Renaissance-era selections, sung by the remarkably expressive tenor Marco Beasley and accompanied by a battery of lutes, strings, and percussion. Many of the texts are about love, but several pieces relate to the tarantella dance, a few are sacred, and there's a truly gorgeous lullaby (L'Angiulillo, track 9).

Angelika Kirchschlager has a committed following among lovers of Baroque music and the release of this superb CD should bring raves of applause from that audience as well as from anyone new to her voice fortunate to hear this fine recital. In excess of an hour of music is on this handsome CD with Kirchschlager magnificently collaborating with Lawrence Cummings conducting the period instrument ensemble of the Kammerorchester Basel.

Chamber Music and Concertos in chamber music setting of Georg Philipp Telemann, the Baroque composer who produced an astonishing amount of compositions of an astonishingly high quality. Performances on period instruments played by the finest Italian specialists.
The works on this CD represent an unfamiliar aspect of Telemann’s work. They date from early in his career when his was experimenting with the different musical and stylistic influences he was exposed to.

On this CD Epoca Barocca turns to Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), who distinguished himself in Hamburg's prosperous middle-class environment with monumental musical creations and demanding chamber works. In these pieces, he implemented his familiarity with a wide range of instruments and their techniques which he had been cultivating since youth. Thus his duos, trios, and quartets pleased not only professional musicians but also many an ambitious amateur.

"Hidden Treasures" is the title of this superb Telemann programme. It is true that the five works performed here have been among his lesser-known pieces until now, not being included in his published collections such as the Musique de Table, although three of them have appeared elsewhere on disc. But treasures they certainly are, and from the very start of the first Ouverture (TWV 55: D4) it is clear that we are in for a real treat.

Enjoy some really wonderful Purcell, including two beautifully sung duets with soprano Patricia Petibon and tenor Jean-François Novelli, and a lovely performance of Francesco Mancini's solo soprano cantata Quanto dolce è quell'ardore.

(…) Concert reviews in England have been ecstatic, and, to judge from the Barber and a recital of Rossini arias, she [Cecilia Bartoli] may be the real article: a young singer with a generous vocal endowment and, more unusual, a distinctive and communicative musical personality. Hear this performance for her. New York Magazine 15-jan-1990

“Smart, sophisticated and opinionated, Anne Sofie von Otter has become a star by doing exactly what she wants”
Music composed by Jacques Offenbach, Georges Bizet, Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Frideric Handel, Claudio Monteverdi, Benny Andersson, Elvis Costello, Cécile Louise Chaminade, Kurt Weill, Pavel Haas, Edvard Grieg, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Henry Purcell, John Dowland.