Il Gusto Barocco

Il Gusto Barocco & Jörg Halubek – Bach: Sonata & Concertos (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:01:02 minutes | 1,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics

On this CD Jorg Halubek and his Ensemble “Il Gusto Barocco” attempt a reconstruction of three of Bach’s organ concertos that today are primarily treated as harpsichord concertos. How thrilling must it have sounded when Johann Sebastian Bach at the organ engaged in a contest of virtuosity with an entire orchestra. The present recording offers a tangible and imaginative impression of it.

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Il Gusto Barocco & Jörg Halubek – Johann Sigismund Kusser: Adonis (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:07:23 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical, Opera
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CPO

The story of Venus and Adonis, self-evidently a love story, advanced to the status of a popular opera subject during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The youth Adonis is so ravishingly beautiful that even the goddess of love falls in love with him. But then Adonis dies while hunting, and Venus has a flower blossom from his blood: the Adonis flower. A good ten years ago the renowned musicologist Samantha Owens presented the sensational reconstruction of the Stuttgart Baroque opera Adonis (1699). Its composer, Johann Sigismund Kusser (1660-1727), was regarded as an international musician personality during his lifetime. After six years of study with Jean-Baptiste Lully in Versailles, he was drawn to the courts of important opera centers such as Braunschweig, Hamburg, London, and Dublin. From 1699 to 1704 this native of Preßburg (today: Bratislava) was the Stuttgart opera director and court chapel master under Duke Eberhardt Ludwig; here he had compositions by Steffani, Keiser, and Cesti as well as his own works performed.

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Jörg Halubek, Il Gusto Barocco – Bach: Partita & Concertos (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:23 minutes | 1,46 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics

Introducing Il Gusto Barocco’s latest album, a revolutionary approach to Baroque music. Each ensemble member is given a platform to showcase their talents as a soloist, choosing their own program and interpreting the selected works uniquely. Director Jörg Halubek believes in the concept of “extended chamber music,” where players must always think and perform as soloists while still valuing the importance of ensemble playing. The members of Il Gusto Barocco all studied at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, which has led to a shared aesthetic background. The ensemble’s goal is to bring the music to life and not impose their own personal listening habits on the audience. Flautist Claire Genewein performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Flute Partita in A minor on the album, playing it without bass accompaniment, as Bach most likely intended. This recording offers a unique interpretation, especially regarding playing speeds, that sets it apart from others. Il Gusto Barocco’s latest album is a must- listen for fans of Baroque music looking for a fresh take on the genre.
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Jörg Halubek, Il Gusto Barocco – Bach: Suite & Concertos (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:08 minutes | 1,55 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics

Il Gusto Barocco approaches Johann Sebastian Bach’s suites and concertos from a contemporary and at the same time historically informed perspective. On their new album “Suite & Concertos”, Jörg Halubek and the early music specialists of Il Gusto Barocco take a look at Bach’s activities in the Zimmermann coffee house in Leipzig. They are not reconstructing an actual programme, but testing how the spirit of the musical gatherings in the circle of family, relatives and students can be transferred to our modern times. “We want to take a more modern look at Bach, who today is mainly seen as a strict church composer. For us, it’s about the communicative side turned towards people,” says ensemble leader and harpsichordist Jörg Halubek.
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Il Gusto Barocco & Jörg Halubek – Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:32:43 minutes | 1,80 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics

The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051, original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments) are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). They are widely regarded as some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.

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