Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Stephen Layton – Bach: Mass in B minor (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:47:44 minutes | 2,01 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hyperion Records
Following much-praised accounts of the St John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Stephen Layton now turns to the B minor Mass. With Trinity College Cambridge forces and a fine roster of soloists, the results are guaranteed to prove equally spectacular.
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Stephen Layton, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Bach: St John Passion (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:58:06 minutes | 1,89 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hyperion Records
‘Layton has directed this annual St John Passion for several seasons now. His readings, which are becoming ever more dramatic and daring, have a raw intensity. It was easy to see why these concerts have become one of the highlights in London’s musical calendar’ (The Guardian)
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Steven Devine, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment – Bach: Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1052, 1054, 1055 & 1059 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:03:30 minutes | 2,37 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Resonus Classics
The harpsichord concertos of J.S. Bach form the origins of the keyboard concerto genre that was to continue to flourish through the music of his sons, C.P.E. Bach and J.C. Bach, and onwards.
* Here, celebrated keyboardist Steven Devine is joined by members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in this recording that features the Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052, Concerto in A major BWV 1055, and the Concerto in D major BWV1054, together with a new reconstruction by Steven Devine of the Concerto in D minor BWV 1059.
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Rachel Podger, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante; Haydn: Violin Concerti 1 & 4 (2009)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:08:06 minutes | 2,68 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Channel Classics Records B.V. | Front Cover, Booklet
It was a joy and an honour to record Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante – such a beautifully crafted masterpiece with those memorable, elegant and distinctive themes in the first movement and both soloists weaving in and out of symphonic textures, the remarkable poignancy of the second movement with its dramatic dialogue which is then dispersed by sheer delight and comic playfulness in the Presto.Delving into these moods was personally enriching and helped me gain a little bit more insight into Mozart’s genius and being. Pavlo and I had the extreme good fortune to play a Strad each! Generously loaned to us by the Royal Academy of Music for this project, we savoured every minute of having these esteemed and valuable instruments in our hands! ‘Mine’ is a proud instrument which demands careful negotiation and warming before it will expose it’s beautiful colours. An amazing experience in itself to play an instrument like this, it was even more of an event when the two Strads met and ‘spoke’ to each other with a feeling of being acquainted, perhaps not for the first time…
Violinist Rachel Podger has secured a name for herself as a master interpreter and performer of all things Baroque and early Classical. Her recent recordings of the complete Mozart violin sonatas thrust her career forward from her already prestigious beginnings as a member of the Palladian Ensemble and Florilegium. This Channel Classics album finds Podger in front of the innovative Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performing two Haydn concertos written during his time in the employ of the Esterházy family, as well as the instantly recognizable Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. Written for Luigi Tomasini, the concertmaster of the Esterházy Court Chapel, the two concertos are filled with dazzling pyrotechnic displays and soulful, sustained melodies, characteristics that play to Podger’s strengths. Any hints of stuffiness or rigidity conjured up when thinking of period instrument performances are at once dispelled with Podger’s vitally enthusiastic but well-controlled approach to her instrument. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment likewise focuses on spontaneity, vibrancy, and beauty of tone. Joined by violist Pavlo Beznosiuk, the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante is treated with similar energy and excitement. A change of instrument, bow, and strings results in a warmer, more hushed tone from Podger that provides a nice contrast to the brightness heard in the Haydn. Keen listeners will also notice that the viola is tuned a half-step higher than usual, which was indicated in Mozart’s original score. The result here is a brighter, more clearly projecting instrument.
Kati Debretzeni, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 41:20 minutes | 787 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Signum Records
Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is one of the most universally recognized and beloved works in western music, and there is no shortage of excellent recordings on the market, in various interpretations and arrangements. This 2014 Signum Classics release by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment belongs to a growing number of historically informed performances, which employ authentic Baroque techniques, original instrumentation, and historically accurate style, in accordance with the best scholarship. Simply put, the renditions on this album have the verve and luster that Vivaldi might have wanted in these picturesque concertos, and the musicians make every effort to re-create the Four Seasons as they would have been heard in the early 18th century. Led by violinist Kati Debretzeni, who plays the spectacular solo part in all four concertos, the performances are bright and energetic, with crisp accentuation and meticulous execution. Special attention is paid to the nature sounds Vivaldi imitated in his score and indicated in the published poetry, with bird calls, rustic clapping and stomping, and other extraordinary effects added to heighten the scene painting. Signum’s recording is close-up but fully dimensional, so there is clear separation between Debretzeni and the ensemble, and every detail is clear.
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András Schiff, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment – Johannes Brahms: Piano Concertos (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:34:33 minutes | 1,60 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM New Series
Arnold Schoenberg called him “Brahms the Progressive”. Whilst Johannes Brahms’s musical language and formal cosmos were deeply rooted in the past, by burrowing into the music of Bach and Beethoven he brought forth compositional fabrics of a tight-knit perfection that pointed far into the future.
Yet, over years of continuously evolving interpretations, Brahms’s oeuvre has acquired an inappropriate heaviness more likely to conceal the fabric of his music than to unveil the subtle intricacies of its “developing variations”, to quote Schoenberg’s term for his compositional method. András Schiff emphasizes precisely this point in his new recording of the two piano concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
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