It was literally "highly virtuosic" when the great composers of the 18th century brought together solo soprano and clarinet trumpet in glorious praise of God. Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen is a prominent example of this. That his courtly colleagues Jan Dismas Zelenka in Dresden and Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt were just as imaginative and effective when composing for their best interpreters is demonstrated by the ensemble Harmonie Universelle with Magdalene Harer (soprano) and Hannes Rux (trumpet) in the breathtaking solo parts.

It was literally "highly virtuosic" when the great composers of the 18th century brought together solo soprano and clarinet trumpet in glorious praise of God.

This is not just another disc (or, in this case, double disc) of Vivaldi violin concertos, but rather one of very few discs on the market to treat a chronological aspect of Vivaldi's career. In question here are early works by the Red Priest. These concertos date from around 1700 to 1710 and were thus composed prior to the appearance of the L'estro armonico, Op. 3, and La stravaganza, Op. 4, sets that made Vivaldi's name. Most of them appear on other recordings, but many were only recently authenticated. And not very many musicians have tried to draw a portrait of Vivaldi as a young man.

Harmonie Universalle is formed by musicians from Western Europe and the Americas. Its director, German-born Florian Deuter, brings his wealth of experience to the group to bind the array of cultures and temperaments that manifest the voice of the ensemble. Alongside are Monica Waisman, Argentine violist; David Glidden, Canadian violist and violinist; and, forming the continuo, French harpsichordist Philippe Grisvard and Hungarian cellist, Dmitri Dichtiar.

Giovanni Domenico Ferrandini (1709-1791) came to the Munich Court with his father already in 1722; initially active there as an oboist, he was appointed Kammer-Compositore by Elector Karl Albrecht in 1732 before being named Director of Chamber Music and appointed to the Electoral Council in 1737. As a contemporary of far better-known masters such as Galuppi, Pergolesi and Gluck, he developed his very own variant of the gallant style: highly expressive, with a dense string sound, idiosyncratic in its melody and rhythm whilst remaining extremely sensitively written for the singers.

Si Vivaldi et Lully sont les génies avérés de l’époque et ont su marquer l’Histoire en faisant de l’Italie et de la France les modèles incontestés, l’Allemagne n’a pas simplement produit de pâles imitations. La « polyphonie savante et rigoureuse » — si caractéristique du style allemand — rayonne à travers les compositions de Georg Philipp Telemann et Johann Friedrich Fasch. Les sonates et concertos présents dans ce disque sont des œuvres novatrices pour l’époque, tantôt par une richesse musicale en désaccord avec les objectifs fixés (sonate d’Église), tantôt par l’audace de la composition.

The 17th-century Bohemian/Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is best known for his works for solo violin, especially the Mystery Sonatas. However, he also wrote a considerable amount of music for string ensemble, including a set of 12 chamber sonatas subtitled Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum which was first published in Nuremberg in 1683. The title refers to the fact that the music in the sonatas combine sacred and secular styles. In his collection, Biber set new standards in the field of string chamber music. In the first part he composes for a five-part string ensemble: 2 violins, 2 violas, violone and basso continuo, a combination that was established at his time as the standard ensemble in Austrian cultural circles.