LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4 & 8 (with Mehul: Symphony No. 1 & Cherubini: Lodoiska Overture) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 9/Sep/2022 ] The least famous of Beethoven's symphonies? Yet these two works are genuine tours de force: the composer takes the listener on a journey whose destination never seems to be known in advance, one brimming over with structural innovations subtly... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Sep/2021 ] Johann Sebastian Bach and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin go back a long way together! This recording, made with the welcome participation of Isabelle Faust and Antoine Tamestit, follows the complete violin concertos (2019), which left a lasting... |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Coronation anthems Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin, Justin Doyle [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Apr/2023 ] In 1727, having just become a naturalised British subject, Handel was commissioned to write a set of anthems for the coronation of George II. Since he could hardly have expected ever to see a more majestic occasion, the composer took full advantage... |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach, (J.S.): Violin Concertos / Sinfonias / Overture / Sonatas Isabelle Faust (violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 15/Mar/2019 ] "Faust's tone is both lean and exquisitely sweet, combined with consistent stylistic elegance which reaches the heights of eloquence in the slow movement of the E major Concerto." BBC Music Concerto Choice June 2019 |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/Apr/2020 ] Perfect Synthesis. Bach's exploration of the Italian concerto grosso took the principles of instrumental 'rivalry' to the point of paroxysm, bringing to the form an unprecedented harmonic and contrapuntal refinement. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2 (with CPE Bach: Symphonies Wq 175 & 183/4) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Jul/2020 ] BBC Music Award Nomination 2021 - Orchestral |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Gran Partita - Wind Serenades K. 361 & 375 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] "For those wanting the music played on the kinds of instruments that Mozart himself knew, this beautifully recorded new version sweeps the field." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2021 |
J.S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Triple Concerto BWV1044; Harpsichord Cto. BWV 1052 Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] "the gestures bold and the virtuosity glittering." - International Record Review |
ANTONIO VIVALDI / JEAN-FERY REBEL
Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] / Rebel: Les Eléments Midori Seiler (solo violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "..[Midori Seiler] and the Berliners have simply insisted on taking nothing for granted...the sheer flair of this new release dazzles as much as it delights." BBC Music |
VIVALDI / GABRIELI / PORTA / MARCELLO / etc
A Venetian Journey Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, with Xenia Löffler (baroque oboe) - Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti - Concerto Palatino [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD - released 18/Jan/2019 ] From the late Renaissance until the middle of the eighteenth century, Venice was the scene of unrivalled musical splendour, encompassing the magnificent ceremonial music heard at Saint Mark's Basilica and the virtuoso music-making at the charitable... |
PAUL WRANITZKY
Wranitzky: Symphonies Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2022 ] Bernhard Forck leads Akamus in a spirited showcase of the Moravian-born composer's gifts as an orchestrator, featuring the overture to Oberon, the 'Grande Symphonie caractéristique pour la Paix avec la République francaise', and the 'Tempest' Symphony. |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Marie Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Justin Doyle - RIAS Kamerchor [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 15/Nov/2019 ] "Altogether, there is much to discover in this little-known work, and the conductor Justin Doyle with his talented team of soloists and the RIAS Chamber Choice and Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik do it proud. Recommended." BBC Music Five Stars |
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: Griselda Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2019 ] Scarlatti's Griselda, premiered in Rome in 1721, received a single performance at the Teatro Capranica, and was never taken into the repertoire elsewhere, both for financial reasons and because of the changing tastes of the time. The tragic story of... |
J.S. BACH
Bach: Mass In B Minor Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Sep/2022 ] A composition as brilliant as it is protean - the earliest sections date back to 1724, others were written in 1733 in the hope of obtaining a post in Dresden - the Mass in B minor occupied Bach until the end of his life. The work, which is more... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti Grossi: Op. 6 (1-6) The Akademie für Alte Musik, Bernhard Forck [ Pentatone / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin kickstarts their Handel trilogy with this recording of the first six concerti grossi op. 6. Originally designed as attractive interludes to English oratorio performances, Handel's concerti grossi soon gained fame as... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Che Puro Ciel - The Rise of Classical Opera Bejun Mehta (counter-tenor) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Dec/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
Ensemble Fur Neue Musik Zurich
Women Composers I [ HatHut Records / CD - released 2/Dec/2016 ] If only Fanny Mendelssohn or Clara Schumann had been fortunate enough to have a group like the Ensemble Für Neue Musik Zürich (ENMZ) from Switzerland champion their works! While the days when women composers hovered in the shadow of their male... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti grossi Op. 3 and Op. 6 Georg Kallweit, Bernhard Forck, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Pentatone / 3 CD Box Set - released 12/Mar/2021 ] BRILLIANT PERFORMANCES OF HANDEL'S MASTERWORKS Handel's concerti grossi Op. 3 and Op. 6 are among the most exceptional instrumental music of the baroque age, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin brings out all the brilliance of these delightful... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Motets RIAS-Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] BBC Radio 3: Building a Library Highly Recommended - June 2005 |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Septem verba a Christo (in cruce moriente prolata) Sophie Karthäuser, Christophe Dumaux, Julien Behr, Konstantin Wolff / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 10/Feb/2013 ] "this hybrid cycle of seven early-18th-century cantatas based on the Seven Last Words is deeply impressive...The mood ranges wide, from fiery, coloratura-laden anger to a touching lyricism." Sunday Times |