Bernardo Storace

All instrumentations & realisations by Maurice Steger, played on period instruments, high Venetian pitch,A = 466 Hz, 1/6 meantone.

Venice, 1625: the city of the doges is one of the principal artistic centres of Europe. At the Cappella San Marco, a profoundly original style of instrumental music is in the process of discarding all reference to the tradition of vocal polyphony.The era of Baroque stravaganze has begun! Now, in the hands of a supreme master of the recorder, this ultra-virtuosic art acquires a new lease of life. Maurice Steger is one of the leading artistic personalities of his generation. He is a frequent guest soloist with leading Baroque ensembles such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Musica Antiqua Köln, the English Concert, Europa Galante and I Barocchisti. His recordings have enjoyed great success and in 2006, his interpretation of Telemann's Recorder Concertos with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin for harmonia mundi won top awards from the international press. Unbeatable in this repertoire.

Italian composer and organist Bernardo Storace was the assistant music director of the senate in the city of Messina in the second half of the seventeenth century.

Here, Jörg Halubek, a young organist who won the first prize in organ at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig in 2004, plays a selection from Storace’s variations on well-known dances and melodies of the time.

Transcribing and copying were methods of learning and earning in Mozart's time. In this way Mozart‘s 'scholars' also profited from him - Hummel lived with him for two years, Süßmayr worked with him, Freystadtler, Eberl, Storace were close to him and watched his fingers with open ears. Mozart‘s studies have been handed down by Attwood (W. A Mozart, New edition of the complete works, Series X, Supplement) - today still important for all those who study composition and interpretation. It is a display of Mozart‘s great, almost playful mastery, which he drew from practice with great ability, and this he also handed down. It is important to pay attention to the roots and branches of this ingenious stem of Mozart. We can be justified in calling the four talented 'descendants': Attwood, Storace, Süßmayr and Freystadtler 'scholars'.

Bernardo Storace’s Selva di varie compositioni, published in Venice in 1664, is one of the greatest outpourings of sheer inventiveness in music history. The two passacaglias on this fascinating disc contain no fewer than 320 variations, which are crowned – as are the Ciaccona and the two Passamezzi – with dashing dances, correnti and gagliarde, pointing towards the later development of the Baroque suite. These fine 17th-century pieces in which Frescobaldi’s powerful influence is evident, are played on a modern copy of a beautiful 1697 Italian harpsichord whose clear, rich sound is ideal for this music.

Rec.date: 1998

As soloist and director of his ensemble L'Amoroso, founded in 1997, Guido Balestracci plays throughout Europe, the USA, South America and Asia. His recordings have met with an enthusiastic reception from the press and the public, winning such awards as the Goldberg Prize, 10 de Répertoire, Diapason d’Or and Diapason decouverte. He regularly appears with distinguished artists as Jordi Savall, Paolo Pandolfo, Emma Kirkby, Gabriel Garrido, Christophe Coin and Christophe Rousset. This recording – previously available on the Symphonia label under the title “Consonanze Stravaganti” – presents Italian music for consort of viols. The programme comprises of compositions written specifically for viols together with arrangements of compositions originally for other instruments.

The Dutch Loeki Stardust Quartet was established in 1978, and from the outset was not your ‘normal’ group of recorder-players. Sure, Baroque repertoire figured prominently in their concerts, but the concerts often contained surprises, substituting the last chord of a canzone with a well-known TV signature tune for example – in this case Loeki the Lion was the TV programme that gave the quartet its name. Wanting to give concerts that were a crossover between St Martin in the Fields and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was the aim in the early years.

A series of big engagements followed, including the Wigmore Hall with Christopher Hogwood, and then recordings for Decca which are included in this 4CD set. The maverick style of the group came to the fore again, when after a successful sequence of Baroque recordings they released a recording of music by Erroll Garner, Henry Mancini, Lennon and McCartney and Charlie Parker together with works by Vivaldi, Beethoven, J.C. and J.S. Bach.

Never before has the recorder sounded so much fun!

This gem from the early days of digital recording is heard here in a new guise. These musicians never fail to fascinate with their vibrant tempi and irresistible tonal presence. The performances include works by Fontana, Frescobaldi, Turini and Merula and were highly praised when they were first released; “Exemplary: just as upbeat music should be, bright, transparent and airy.” (FAZ)