Bach, J S: Cantata BWV208 'Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!' (Hunting Cantata)

The Art of Magdalena Kožená is an anthology of her finest performances, documenting both the range of her voice and the breadth of repertoire to which she can bring authority, from early baroque of Monteverdi and Strozzi to sacred arias by Bach, opera arias by Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Gounod, Bizet and Auber, as well as orchestral songs by Mahler. To all she brings an absorbing emotional depth and maturity of her interpretative abilities.

Unique to Kožená are the songs rooted in Bohemia and Moravia by Dvořak and Janáček. She still feels closely connected to her Czech roots. “It’s music that stays in your body forever”.

This is Magdalena’s own selection of her favourite songs and arias, sung in French, Italian and German as well as in her mother tongue.

28-page Booklet, including new liner notes from Nick Kimberley.

Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki present their long-awaited second volume of secular cantatas by J.S. Bach.

The “Hunt Cantata”, composed in 1713, is the oldest of his secular cantatas. The libretto includes a dramatic plot in which four divinities from ancient mythology appear.

Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht was intended for the 1719 New Year celebrations in Köthen. The cantata is set as a dialogue between Time (tenor) and Divine Providence (alto), who in the final movement are joined by a chorus wishing ‘glückseligen Zeiten’ (‘joyous times’)

"Harnoncourt tops off the complete Teldec set of Bach's church cantatas with admirably ebullient accounts of [these two] secular cantatas…the exuberance of the performance carries over into Harnoncourt's accompaniments - no scholarly rectitude here - and the recording is first rate." Penguin Guide

Award-winning pianist Luiza Borac champions the compositions of fellow-Romanian Dinu Lipatti in a 2-CD set that includes a number of world-premiere recordings.

Pianist Luiza Borac is the most dedicated champion of music from her native Romania. She was recognised with a BBC Music Magazine Award for her artistry and advocacy of the piano canon of Georges Enescu. She now turns to another compatriot best known as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century who was also during his short lifetime a celebrated composer: Dinu Lipatti. With influences that range from the counterpoint of Bach to the lyricism of Chopin and the folk-tinged soundscapes of Enescu (Lipatti's godfather), as well as his teachers Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger, Lipatti forged an individual voice over the 18 years of his compositional career.

The rarities that Luiza has unearthed for this 2-disc set include a number of world premiere recordings including Lipatti's first Piano Sonata, an arrangement of Albeniz's Navarra, and the complex Fantasie. For the Concertino in Classical Style, Lipatti's first published composition, Luiza is joined by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Jaime Martin. Aiming to recreate Lipatti's sound world as faithfully as possible, Luiza performs on a Bechstein piano, Lipatti's instrument of choice.

Transcribers and arrangers have had a field day during the great rediscovery of J.S. Bach.… But the transcriptions of the organ works, meant to get the works out of the temple and bring them to the stage, played a particularly important part. The Trio-Sonatas, for a long time considered unplayable in concert, caught the attention of important personalities of the piano, from Ferdinand Thieriot, friend of Brahms, to ‘Mr Bach’, Hermann Keller, in 20th century Germany. Rediscovered by Arthur Schanz, scientific adviser for this production and undisputed specialist regarding Bach’s transcriptions, these sonatas in their version for two pianos, performed here by a duo of partners on stage as in life, provide sheer pleasure to the ear and mind. They also contribute to a never-ending task, dear to Fuga Libera: the reflexion on the genius of Bach.

Donath, Speiser, Jochims, Stämpfli, Rilling – great names of the German Bach reception. Also Helmut Winschermann was famous for his Bach interpretation; here he comes with a fine arrangement together with Rilling conducting one of the most beloved mundane cantatas.