Even those who may be unfamiliar with his music will likely recognize Johann Goldberg's name in association with J.S. Bach's famous Goldberg Variations, the story behind which is so speculative as to not bear repeating here. Goldberg was in fact a student of the elder Bach's as well as W.F. Bach. So similar was Goldberg's early use of counterpoint, texture, and chromaticism to his teacher's that one of the trio sonatas heard on this album – the one in C major – was actually listed for many years in the BWV as being by Bach. Regrettably for listeners, Goldberg died before his 30th birthday; like Brahms, he was his own worst critic and destroyed copious amounts of his own compositions.

A true spate of recordings in recent years has illuminated the best qualities of Georg Philipp Telemann's chamber music, which is instrumentally colorful, adept in its combination of styles, and often possessed of sheer imagination and a delightfully cheeky sense of humor. For a great example of the kind of thing Telemann does all the time that Bach would rarely if ever do, hear the Entrée from the Ouverture for oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and continuo in E major, TWV 55:E2 (track 6), where the music unexpectedly shifts into triple meter and back again.

Remastered from the original LP recording, this performance is now available on CD.
Leclair was one of the best violinists of his times. The story is told that he had to compete in a musical duel with Locatelli in Kassel - then a most highly popular form of musical entertainment. The chronicler describes his "devilish" playing, contrasting it with the "angelic" style of his Italian rival. His trio sonatas suggest familiarity with the Italian school but also draw on entirely independent French traditions and shine with ingenious inventions and harmonic refinements.

Musica Alta Ripa was founded in 1984. The recorder player Danya Segal, two violinists Anne Röhrig and Ursula Bundies, cellist Juris Teichmanis, and harpsichordist Bernward Lohr, all outstanding, sought-after musicians in their fields, joined forces to form an ensemble that owes its special aura to the commingling of their individual personalities.

Alessandro Scarlatti’s 600-plus cantatas make him one of the more prolific exponents of a form that flourished in Italy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Though he’s generally credited with standardising cantata form, his early essays in the genre were often imaginatively varied, as is shown by the delectable Arcadian Academy disc. Rather than the usual two or three da capo arias alternating with recitatives, the four secular cantatas here boast opening sinfonias, closing ariosos, large numbers of movements and a range of aria-types. Bella madre dei fiori, for example, experiments with a mix of poetic strophes and instrumental ritornelli. Even so, this formal ingenuity would be of limited interest were it not for Scarlatti’s gifts for attractive melody and sensitive illustration of his texts.

While Italians and Frenchmen were competing for musical primacy everywhere on the European Continent, a very characteristically British tonal idiom reigned supreme during this short period of history before foreign influences increased in importance. Musica Alta Ripa’s espousal of an epoch that so far has not received much attention turns out to be a genuine instance of good fortune. With their special feel for the peculiar resonances of English music, these Hanoverian baroque specialists present a royal audio feast and with it genuine enrichment not only for early music enthusiasts.

Agostino Steffani (1654-1728) was the most important composer ever to be appointed by the Duchy of Hannover. At the end of the 17th century this noble family embarked on a cultural offensive with the objective of having Duke Ernst August become a prince elector. To this end, the Welph dynasty obtained the services of Steffani, a master choice in itself as his works are still performed to this day in the majestic gardens of Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband, the current Ernst August of Hannover.