Volume 17 in the Bach cantata series contains exclusively works from the third yearly cycle of cantatas from Leipzig, which, unlike the previous two Leipzig cycles, extends over a longer period of time, from June 1725 until 1727. The cantatas in this volume can be divided into three chronologically distinct groups: December-January 1725-26 (BWV 57, 32), September-October 1726 (BWV 35, 17, 19, 169 and 56) and January-February 1727 (BWV 58 and 84).

The cantatas in this sixteenth volume are all from the third cycle of Bach's Leipzig cantatas. This yearly cycle began on the First Sunday after Trinity (3 June) 1725 and extended over a period of about three years - unlike the two preceding cycles of 1723-24 and 1724-25. Bach's rhythm of composition had slowed down markedly in the middle of 1725. It is also significant that from February to September 1726 he performed a long series of cantatas by his cousin Johann Ludwig Bach (1677-1731), Kapellmeister at the ducal court of Meiningen. But even if the proportion of original compositions declined markedly, these include a series of particularly accomplished and extended works, such as Cantatas BWV 43, 39, 170 and 102. Musically, Bach's third yearly cycle of cantatas is distinguishable by the fact that they do not begin with large-scale instrumental symphonies, nor do they have unusually extended or richly scored opening movements.

Before you play the first track of this disc, make sure you're in quiet surroundings and ready to listen closely. You'll hear a pure yet sensuous soprano voice slip gently out of the silence and sing a melody that manages to be haunting and virtuosic at the same time–only to be followed by a similar voice doing the same thing. The two voices coil around each other (with some gleaming suspensions) for a full minute before instruments join them. And that's just the beginning of this marvelous disc of motets by François Couperin, a composer better known for his keyboard and chamber music. Most of these pieces were written to accompany the Elevation of the Host (the most solemn moment of the Roman Catholic liturgy), so you won't hear much exuberance.

The cantatas in this fifteenth volume belong mostly to the transitional period between the second and the third yearly cycle of cantatas, i.e. the spring of 1725. BWV 3 is part of the series of chorale cantatas that give the second yearly cycle its special character, whereas BWV 28, 110, 146 and 168 already belong to the third yearly cycle. However, cantatas BWV 85, 87, 108, 128, 175, 176 and 183, mostly compositions on texts by Mariane von Ziegler, bring the second yearly cycle to its conclusion. Bach had taken up his position as Kantor of St Thomas's, Leipzig, at the end of May 1723 and so begun his regular performances of cantatas on the First Sunday after Trinity - in other words, in the middle of the church year.

La Fida Ninfa premiered during the Verona carnival of 1732 at the Teatro Filarmonico. The work was composed to help celebrate the opening of the theatre, which had been postponed for two years, since at that time, the city had been surrounded by foreign military troops. The production was spectacular, and included elaborate ballets by Andrea Cattani, a famous ballet master from Poland, as well as sumptuous sets by Francesco Bibiena. “Vivaldi's score is a ravishing one, offering a rewarding sequence of beguiling arias, duets, a trio and a quartet. Sandrine Piau (Licori) and Verónica Cangemi (Morasto) take on the considerable vocal challenges of demanding roles with their usual tonal warmth and bravura, while Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Elpina) provides the necessary emotional contrasts.

Naïve continues its admirable series of complete recordings of Vivaldi's operas with Atenaide, an opera seria that was not successful at its 1728 premiere, and received no further performances during the composer's lifetime. This recording was made as a result of the first modern production, which was presented in the same Florentine theater in which the opera had received its premiere. With an unusually convoluted plot, and lasting over three-and-a-half hours, its unlikely that Atenaide will ever make its way into the repertoire, but especially for the Vivaldi enthusiast and the lover of virtuosic Baroque vocal display, the opera should be very attractive.

On the strength of the immense success of Dido & Aeneas and King Arthur, in 1692 Purcell went on to produce The Fairy Queen, based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer-Night’s Dream. The work is, in fact, a ‘semi-opera’, or ‘opera with dialogue’, in which only some of the crucial scenes are provided with music. But this version of A Midsummer-Night’s Dream by the ‘Orpheus Britannicus’ became almost as famous as the play that inspired it, with its love scenes, its supernatural scenes and its innate sense of musical humour investing it with an irresistible savour and enchantment.This title was released for the first time in 1989.

Sandrine Piau and the pianist David Kadouch have formed a new duo whose first concerts have been enthusiastically received. As is her wont, the French soprano enjoys intermingling languages and the worlds of different composers and poets around a theme; here Schubert, Liszt, Wolf and Clara Schumann rub shoulders with Lili Boulanger, Duparc and Debussy. Sandrine Piau explains: ‘The promise of new horizons, the joy of new encounters: the journey in all its forms was the common thread of this recital for David and me.

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux. This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein. With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard and Pulcinella Orchestra focus on Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and first virtuoso cellist in history. Born in the Tuscany, Boccherini then went to the Court of Prussa and Spain. His musical education looks like a journey around Europe, as it used to be.

After triumphant recordings of Handelian opera seria and other Italian material, soprano Sandrine Piau, France's voice of the Baroque, turns her attention to repertory that is very little known outside of France. Even in their homeland, Piau writes in the CD booklet, these arias and instrumental music are merely "not exactly virgin territory."

A CD of world premiere recordings of music not heard since Vivaldi’s day. Volume 28 of the Foà Collection is Vivaldi’s personal collection of opera arias, and includes variants on the arias performed in the operas. The performances under the stylish direction of Federico Maria Sardelli, who also contributes a dazzling recording obbligato in the concluding aria, are splendid.

A member of the Mannheim school, Ignaz Holzbauer (1711–1783) was a composer of symphonies, concertos, operas and chamber music who wrote in the style of the Sturm and Drang movement. In his penultimate opera "Tod der Dido" [The Death of Dido] (1779), Ignaz Holzbauer presented himself not only as a master of fine musical word interpretation, but also as an imaginative music dramatist. While the original Italian version underlined his position as one of the leading opera composers of the time, the German version which he wrote a year later additionally emphasizes his position as a pioneer of the German National Opera. Frieder Bernius therefore chose this version for a production performed at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1997, which is now being released here for the first time.

I cannot help feeling that Alessandro Stradella is possibly still one of the major unexplored talents of baroque music. I say this, not because I personally know of piles of forgotten masterpieces by him, but simply because when there is so much of his music that has not been recorded or made available in modern editions, and when what one does get to hear suggests so much talent (the powerful oratorio San Giovanni Battista, for instance), it makes you wonder just what else there might be waiting to be discovered.