In this much requested re-issue, Chandos presents the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and Sinfonia concertante.
Both these works were written in Salzburg. The Concerto for two pianos was intended for performance by Mozart and his sister. With his justly famous Sinfonia concertante, boundlessly energetic in the outer movements and including a slow movement of quite remarkable poignancy, Mozart achieved one of his finest orchestral works before arriving in Vienna.

This is the second recording which the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has made of Handel's 12 Concerti grossi, Op. 6. The first was directed by Neville Marriner whereas the new one is directed by Iona Brown. handel assembled his twelve ''grand concertos'', as he called them, during the autumn of 1739 and they were published by subscription in the following year. Their stylistic terms of reference are marvellously diverse and, in this respect they represent an apotheosis of what had become, by the 1730s, an old-fashioned form of concerto writing on the continent. Variety in form, ingenuity of thought and Handel's own unmistakeable personality ensure that in no other sense can these satisfying concertos be regarded as archaic.

Seine Bekanntheit im heutigen Musikleben verdankt Carl Stamitz hauptsächlich auch seinen Klarinettenkonzerten, die sowohl ästhetisch als auch gattungs- und musikhistorisch von nicht zu unterschätzender Bedeutung sind. Obwohl die genaue Anzahl seiner Klarinettenkonzerte nach derzeitigem Forschungsstand nicht zweifelsohne gesichert ist, werden ihm insgesamt 11 Klarinettenkonzerte zugeordnet, die vermutlich zwischen 1770 und 1790 entstanden sind. In der kompositorischen Behandlung der Klarinette bei Carl Stamitz zeigt sich, dass er versuchte die virtuose Seite der Klarinette auszuschöpfen, sie aber vornehmlich als Gesangsinstrument erkannte.

This is a quite extraordinary achievement. Not the least of its merits is that it leaves you loving the music as never before. The orchestra gives splendid support and the sound is warm and ingratiating.

Iona Brown, violinist and sometime conductor of the Academy of St. Martin and the fields, clearly understood how different Telemann was from other baroque composers - and what was needed to really bring out his special qualities. Unlike J.S. Bach and Handel, who were keyboard virtuosi, Telemann, who had unusual interest in and an especially keen ear for instrumental sonorities, spent his early years (secretly) learning to play all the instruments available in his time. Despite his prodigious musical gifts, his upper middle class family did not want him pursuing what was then the low occupation of musician.

This collection of ten Classical symphonies concertantes was recorded (quadraphonically!) in 1977 and issued as a five-record set by EMI Electrola. Now it has been licensed by CPO and reissued economically on just three CDs.

Although this recording is now at least temporarily out of press it combines the finest oboist of our day, Holliger, with the most sensitive interpreter of Telemann in my experience: Iona Brown with the Orchestra of St. Martin and the Fields. That's particularly important because groups that don't understand or exploit Telemann's sense of musical drama, instrumental color and special effects, and ingenious interactions between orchestra and soloist can reduce a blood-pressure raising work to just baroque music. I expect to offer a more detailed sampler of Telemann recordings and comment in the future. For now let me point out the opening oboe concerto as a unique masterpiece.

Denmark's Michala Petri has continued to dominate the modest but persistent recorder "scene" despite the emergence of a host of younger recorder players from the ranks of Dutch-trained historical-instrument specialists. Collecting a group of her 1970s and 1980s recordings, as has been done here, is an eminently justifiable enterprise, for it was these recordings whose laserlike intonation, whip-smart ornamentation, and all-around attractiveness that caught the attention of listeners in the first place. Petri uncovered and recorded a good deal of Baroque repertory for the instruments, recording it with the likes of England's Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Brilliant Classics' Telemann Edition is a cube-shaped, flip-top box set of 29 CDs, drawn from the label's extensive back list. Georg Philipp Telemann was a major figure of the Baroque era and one of the most prolific composers of that or any age; his massive output encompassed Tafelmusik (music for the table), concertos, orchestral suites, chamber works, keyboard pieces, oratorios, operas, and cantatas. This collection is comprehensive in its coverage, providing an in-depth appreciation of Telemann's highly varied and innovative work, and the performances by a long roster of European musicians show a fine sense for period practices. To fit so many discs into this package, they are protected by thin cardboard sleeves, and the thin booklet that accompanies them gives a brief explanation of Telemann's career and reputation over the succeeding centuries. However, the sound quality is only slightly variable and quite pleasant throughout, and the package as a whole is likely to satisfy any Telemann fan.