This is simply sublime! Kempff’s transcriptions of Bach, Handel and Gluck aren’t that often heard, yet his way with such favourites as ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’, ‘Nun komm’ der Heiden Heiland’, ‘In dulci jubilo’, two pieces from Gluck’s ‘Orfeo’ and the unforgettable Handel G minor Minuet are ravishing! In addition, Kempff performs two great […]

These delightful Cantatas have very familiar tunes that Handel was later to reuse in other works, so many of them are instantly recognisable. They also elicit some of the most visceral singing imaginable from Helen Watts.

These are unashamedly old-fashioned but beautifully clear, performances of these timeless masterpieces. They were recorded in the famed ‘old’ Concertgebouw and the sound of the winds especially – horn (track 3) and oboe (track 2) – are beautifully glowing.

A feast of Baroque favourites including the popular Albinoni, Handel and Pachelbel miniatures plus four complete concertos. These are performed with warmth and virtuosity by two very fine ensembles.

Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the seventh volume, Reflections in the Water, is the ultimate tranquility! Water is a force of nature that inspired composers to some of their most languid compositions, from the Baroque (Handel’s Water Music written for a royal party held on a barge) to Impressionistic (the aqueous ripples and shimmer […]

Some of the most gracious performances of Baroque blockbusters – including Albinoni’s ‘Adagio’ and Pachelbel’s ‘Canon’, of course.

The Dutch contralto, Aafje Heynis, had a dark, rich, altogether unique voice and the story of her discovery in a Holland recovering from the ravages of World War II, told in the booklet notes, is heart-warming indeed… as is this collection put together from several of her recordings. Seven Bach and six Handel arias make […]

The ubiquitous Pachelbel Canon starts off this delightful collection of Baroque favourites. Three virtual one-hit wonders – Pachelbel, Albinoni, Boccherini – meet Mozart’s dad, the reputedly sour-puss Leopold, who here, takes off his wig and summons a collection of toys to partake in the Haydn-attributed ‘Toy Symphony’.

Some of Handel’s most magnificent and regal choral writing is collected on this CD. The most popular work on it, by far, is the Coronation Anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’. Both the Coronation Anthems and the ‘Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne’ were written for monarchs and the opening of the ‘Ode’ with its trumpet […]

These rarities of sprightly, energetic and utterly charming music make a welcome return to the catalogue at budget price. A contemporary reaction to the first production is found in the diary of Count Zinzendorf, who found the subject ‘…extremely sad, lugubrious and frightening… Hell appears, furies dance with lighted torches and torment Don Juan; in […]

The sequence of Italian operas on this recording take us from the birth of opera at the end of the sixteenth century to the first flowerings of the Classical period nearly 200 years later. The extraordinary power and agility of Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s voice comes fully into its own on this recording, allowing for a richness […]

As one of music’s greatest recyclers, Handel would have earned untold respect in our time. That he managed (largely) to achieve this so felicitously, so that whether you were listening to an aria in the context of an English oratorio or an Italian cantata it seemed intuitively ‘right’, is tribute to his skill. This collection […]