London-based period instrument ensemble, The Amadè Players, with their artistic director and conductor Nicholas Newland, make their commercial recording debut on the Resonus Classics label with this innovative and fascinating programme of works from unjustly neglected composers of the early classical era.

Baron von Dittersdorf’s attractive personality and inventiveness as a composer shines through in every movement of the three charming symphonies featured on this world première recording. Composed in the 1780s around the time of his famous ‘Ovid’ Symphonies, the three symphonies included here abound in brilliant orchestral writing and quirky, infectious melodies.

Neben dem überaus erfolgreichen Singspiel Doktor und Apotheker haben es gerade noch Dittersdorfs originelles Kontrabasskonzert, mit Abstrichen wohl auch seine Sinfonien nach Ovids Metamorphosen geschafft, sich im Bewusstsein des Klassikpublikums zu halten. So dürften die dem klassischen Konzerttypus folgenden Klavierkonzerte A-Dur (1779) und B-Dur (1773) des gebürtigen Wieners und hoch geschätzten Violinvirtuosen und Opernkomponisten Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799) nur einem kleinen Kreis von Insidern bekannt sein, wenngleich das A-Dur-Konzert in der Bearbeitung als Harfenkonzert vermutlich bekannter ist.

After listening to this inspired oratorio, it’s clear why Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was recognized in his day as Franz Joseph Haydn’s primary competitor. It’s a lovely work, loaded with drama, style, and expertly crafted instrumental and vocal writing. From the dramatic dotted rhythms and churning string sequences of the overture to the resounding spirited choral fugue finale, Dittersdorf’s music masterfully propels his grandiose subject matter, commanding attention more profoundly than any recorded vocal/choral work in recent memory (and this one’s more than two and a half hours long!).

The Fifth volume in a very compelling series covering the huge flowering of composing talent that originated in Bohemia in the period preceding and contemporaneous to Haydn and Mozart. These composers laid the groundwork for the masterpieces that ensued and each one has a unique creative voice.

Though much of his life was devoted to opera, Dittersdorf was obviously a string player at heart; and no eighteenth-century string player could get far without writing a fair ration of concertos. Nor did the concertos have to be exclusively for the violin. Vivaldi might not have been much impressed, but the rest of us can take joy in Dittersdorf's more eccentric choices of soloist from time to time. A bass concerto, for example! Here is something for the library, as Hörtnagel steers his rather broad-beamed ship through previously uncharted channels, disclosing in the process some uncannily in-tune double stopping, as well as some resourceful and effective harmonics (and as well an occasional difference of opinion with the conductor about suitable tempo).