Elinor Frey / Lorenzo Ghielmi BERLIN SONATAS

 

BERLIN SONATAS

 

Cecilia Bartoli QUEEN OF BAROQUE

 

QUEEN OF BAROQUE

 

Julia Lezhneva / Concerto Köln / Mikhail Antonenko CARL HEINRICH GRAUN Opera Arias

Julia Lezhneva is one of the leading artists of her generation. The young Russian soprano with the voice of ”angelic beauty” (The New York Times), “pure tone” (Opernwelt) & “flawless technique” (Guardian) brings “unforgettable spiritual expression” & “perfect artistry” (Guardian) performing worldwide. Her international career skyrocketed when she created a sensation at the Classical Brit Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2010, singing Rossini’s Fra il padre at the invitation of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. 

Born December 5 1989 in a family of geophysicists on Sakhalin Island, she began playing piano and singing at the age of five. She graduated from the Gretchaninov Music School and continued her vocal and piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory Academic Music College.. At 17 she came to int attention winning the 6th Elena Obraztsova Opera Singers Competition 2007, and next year shared the concert stage with Juan Diego Flórez at the opening of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. 

World-premiere Decca album is OUT!

Julia Lezhneva discovers arias written by forgotten genius for the greatest singers of the time – Giovanna Astrua, GIovanna Gasparini and castrato Antonio Uberti detto ‘Porporino’.

She is partnered by Concerto Köln and conductor Mikhail Antonenko.

Xenia Löffler / Batzdorfer Hofkapelle GRAUN Oboe Concertos

Johann Gottlieb Graun became a member of the small court orchestra of the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick in Ruppin in 1732, which Carl Heinrich also joined in 1735. With Friedrich's ascension to the throne in 1740, Johann Gottlieb was appointed concertmaster and Carl Heinrich kapellmeister of the royal court. Johann Gottlieb remained until the end of his life closely linked to Frederick the Great, as concertmaster and chamber musician. Whilst his brother Carl Heinrich became an important figure at the new Berlin Court Opera, Johann Gottlieb strongly influenced the musical life of Berlin and early classicism in general as a violinist and composer. One can no longer determine with any certainty which of the brothers wrote the oboe concertos recorded here the existing sources are too unclear and the differences in their personal styles are too slight. What is certain, however, is that the name "Graun" was a kind of seal of approval in those days for zestful music rich in ideas an estimation still valid today, as is readily apparent when listening to these concertos. The oboist Xenia Löffler has distinguished herself as a specialist for the North German repertoire of this period, as in her recordings with oboe concertos from the Dresden Court and with works from the Dresden Pisendel Collection (ACC 24202 and 24222). Alongside her teaching activities at the Academy of the Arts in Bremen, she is a member of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and in great international demand as a soloist.