Gossec made an important contribution to the development of French symphonic music and played a central role in Parisian musical life for almost three-quarters of a century. The opera 'Le Triomphe de la République' was composed in 1793 folowing the French Revolution and wonderfully demonstrates the musical movement that France experienced following the change in political climate. Music was recognized as a medium for the diffusion of new ideas and 'Le Triomphe de la République' was a case in point. It was written in the wake of popular enthusiasm at the news of the army's victory at the battle of Vlamy in 1792 against the anti-French troops led by the Duke of Brunswick. It features folk music and popular dances of the day reflecting a kind of life quite distinct from that of intellectual, aristocratic society.

Diego Fasolis and his ensemble ''I Barocchisti'' have been acclaimed from the press many times as one of the best ensemble for ancient music. Statements like ''Simply a terrific recording'' (American Record Guide for ARTS 47573-2 Bach – Motetes) and ''These two recordings (ARTS 47694-2 Bach Psalm 51 and ARTS 47695-2 Bach Cantatas) confirm the places of Diego Fasolis and the ensemble I Barocchisti among those musicians who really count.'' (Le Monde de la Musique) encouraged us to promptly release another recording from this ensemble.

Diego Fasolis and his Swiss-Italian forces give a committed, full-blooded performance, with accomplished work from chorus and soloists. The F major Symphony 'in 17 parts' of 1809-Gossec's last symphony-is longer on ceremonial bustle and colourful wind scoring (entertainingly cavorting clarinets in the finale) than on truly memorable invention. But the Larghetto has an agreeable pastoral charm and one striking harmonic purple patch, while the C minor minuet surprises with its unremitting contrapuntal severity. Recommended to the adventurous, who will be rewarded by some fascinating and -in the Requiem-loftily imposing music.

The six cantatas come alive in Fasolis' no nonsense readings that are swift and energetic but never lose sight of the big picture. The famous opening sequence of the First Cantata sets the tone for proceedings which move along quite merrily; particular praise is here due to the Swiss radio Chorus who are infectious in their full throated and high spirited singing.

Among the current sensations of the historical-performance scene is I Barocchisti, from Italian Switzerland, and its director and harpsichordist Diego Fasolis. The group released performances of Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos on a pair of discs, with the second disc also containing the Concerto for flute, violin, harpsichord, strings, and continuo in A minor, BWV 1044. Whatever may be said for breaking up the set in other situations, this radical approach is best appreciated as a whole. Part of the charm of these classic works is their differentiation, somewhat obscured in modern performances (and even in some on historical instruments) that use a large string section.

As with the majority of Handel’s stage works, Rodelinda is composed in a purely Italian style. The libretto was adapted by Nicola Haym from a previous version by Antonio Salvi. In line with the norms for Italian opera, it consists of solo da capo arias interspersed with secco recitatives and, occasionally, with accompanied ones. The undoubted protagonist of the opera is Rodelinda, for whom the composer wrote eight of the original score’s thirty-two numbers, as well as the duet with Bertarido. Rodelinda’s characterisation is a masterpiece of psychological and musical insight, beginning with the entrance aria, Ho perduto il caro sposo.

There's only one problem with this otherwise excellently played and recorded program: a certain lack of dynamic range that makes all of the slow movements come across as a bit too loud. To some degree this is a general limitation of the harpsichord itself, and it must be said in this respect that Francesco Cera plays an attractive-sounding instrument, with a bright, clean tone that's never excessively clattery or fatiguing. Indeed, his clarity of articulation even at a propulsive main tempo, as in the first movement of the D minor concerto, is thoroughly admirable, but I would have liked a touch less aggression especially in the slow movements of the two major-key works. Diego Fasolis and the string players of I Barocchisti deliver precise, boldly phrased accompaniments, and their timbre isn't "authentic" in an annoying sense. In the allegros these performances really are exciting.

MESSIAH is one of Handel's most popular works. Devised in 1741, the spectacular piece was made public the following year, to huge acclaim. The three-part oratorio is performed by a number of notable names here, including Lynne Dawson (soprano); Guillemette Laurens (mezzo-soprano); Charles Daniels (tenor); Antonio Abete (bass); Coro Della Radio Svizzerra; and conductor Diego Fasolis. The sparkling mix adds a new clarity to Handel's masterpiece, making this a very special release that easily transcends the ravages of time.

For the later part of her career, Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has apparently settled on a campaign of major conceptual releases covering all-but-unknown repertory, and St. Petersburg fits right in. It's a collection of arias from operas written in the second half of the 18th century for the Russian imperial court, which had imported the best Italian and German composers money could buy. The names of all but Mozart's contemporary Domenico Cimarosa are unknown today. Most of the arias are in Italian, but a couple are in Russian, and to untutored ears Bartoli brings her trademark passion to them. This is the kind of release where one can quibble with any number of details. Bartoli sounds thick in some places, strained in others. The material is a bit uneven, with especially the last two pieces creating a bit of a letdown, although much of it does indeed live up to major-forgotten-works billing.

Antonio Vivaldi's four concertos known as «The Seasons» from his collection Opus 8 are probably the most frequently performed, recorded as well as maltreated works from the Baroque period. A number of other composers employed Vivaldi's four masterpieces in their own compositions already during the composer’s lifetime. «Le Printemps ou les saisons amusantes» are arrangements for popular instruments at the time such as the hurdy-gurdy or bagpipes.In 1766 Michel Corrette composed the psalm Laudate Dominum de coelis by adding additional voices to the music of Spring and in 1775 Jean-Jacques Rousseau even published Spring in a transcription for flute solo!

Galuppi is important in operatic history as the pioneer of the finalé, joining movements into a concerted whole in which the dramatic action reaches a crucial situation and is then developed. His most successful operas were written, as here, with the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni who had reformed the original ‘comedia dell'arte’ and developed this into ‘opera buffe’, thus bringing comedy into the opera house. His texts provided simplicity and directness with reduction of dialogue, more musical numbers, including arias, lovers’ duets and big final ensembles. Galuppi set the dialogue words with secco recitative. In combination Goldoni and Galuppi were said to have invented ‘opere buffe’.

Virgin Classics invites you to enjoy the world premiere recording of Viviadi's Il Farnace in a version that Vivaldi prepared specially for the city of Ferrara in 1737-38 after its success in Venice. This is not only the first time the Ferrara version of Farnace has been recorded, but also the first time it has been heard, as the planned performances of 1738 were cancelled due to the local failure of the Vivaldi opera that preceded it, Siroe.

During the course of an extraordinarily active life and compositional career Niccolò Piccinni embraced not only both comic and serious Italian opera but also, during the course of a 15-year period spent in Paris (1776–1791), adapted his style to tragédie lyrique, thereby becoming an unwitting participant in the rows between his adherents and those of Gluck. Like most 18th-century Neapolitan composers (he was actually born in Bari), Piccinni was a product of the conservatoire system, following which he gained his first operatic successes during the 1750s. In 1758 he broke into wider prominence with Alessandro nelle Indie, an opera seria given in Rome with such success that the composer moved there, embarking on a period of intense operatic activity that reached an early peak with the production in 1761 of his most famous opera, La buona figliuola.

Max Emanuel Cencic accurately describes himself as a mezzo-soprano rather than a counter tenor. His tone, while pure, is colorfully nuanced, nothing like the blanched purity that was once (but is thankfully no longer) stereotypical of counter tenors. A lifetime of singing the most advanced repertoire has given him a confident technique, exceptionally sure intonation, astonishing vocal power, and an effortless-sounding flexibility; at the age of six he sang the Queen of the Night's "Der Hölle Rache on Zagreb" television, and he went on to become a soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir. On this album he tackles some of Handel's most virtuosic and demanding mezzo arias, most of them relatively unfamiliar. /quote]

On her second PENTATONE album Maria & Maddalena, star soprano Francesca Aspromonte explores the Two Marys in oratorios by Lulier, Bononcini, Leopoldo I d’Asburgo, Caldara, Perti, Handel and Scarlatti, partly in new editions, documenting the extremely bloom of the genre in the years around 1700. She performs these works together with violinist Boris Begelman as well as the seasoned players of I Barocchisti under the baton of the eminent Diego Fasolis. Traditionally seen as two feminine opposites, with far-reaching moral implications, Aspromonte brings the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene together as two beautiful and strong women who turned their lives upside down by making the choice to dedicate themselves completely to an ideal. Her interpretation of these exceptional pieces explores all the emotions of the Two Marys, constituting a fascinating and profoundly moving portrait of what it means to be a woman.