Freiburger Barockochester / Petra Müllejans W.A. MOZART Wind Concertos

Light, sprightly, and delightful, the Freiburger Barockochester's disc coupling Mozart's First and Fourth horn concertos with his oboe and bassoon concertos is oodles of fun. Old timers, longing for the mellow tone of Dennis Brain, might object to hornist Teunis van der Zwart's metallic tone, but they certainly couldn't complain about his glorious technique or his vivacious sense of humor, a vital element in Mozart's horn concertos. And old timers might likewise complain that oboist Katharina Arfken's tone is perhaps too lean and bassoonist Donna Agrell's tone is possibly too pungent compared with, say, the warm, round tone of soloists from the Wiener Philharmoniker, but here, too, they surely couldn't protest that they can't play the heck out of the pieces -- and sound like they're having a rollicking good time doing it, too. Backed by the very dry but very colorful and very skillful Freiburger Barockochester under the direction of Petra Müllejans, this disc might not please everyone, but it will thrill anyone with a tolerance for period instruments and an interest in these standard repertoire works. Recorded in 2006 in the Paulus-Saal in Freiburg by Martin Sauer, Harmonia Mundi's digital sound is clean and close, though a smidgen on the loud side in tuttis. (James Leonard)

Carolyn Sampson / Freiburger Barockorchester / Petra Müllejans JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Cantatas for Soprano

For biographer Philipp Spitta, Bach's period as organist and later Konzertmeister to the Duke of Weimar (1708-17) was the time of his ‘early mastery’. Nowhere is this more evident than in the small but highly distinguished body of cantatas he wrote there, whether for the court chapel – the Himmelsburg or ‘Castle of Heaven’ – or for some clearly very joyful wedding (BWV202). From the ravishing duets for soprano and oboe of the latter to the penitential strains of BWV199, the radiant voice of Carolyn Sampson and the virtuosos of the Freiburger Barockorchester do full justice to Bach's inventiveness.

Soprano Carolyn Sampson has been proclaimed "the best British early music soprano by some distance" by the editors of Gramophone. A native of Bedford, she studied voice with Richard Smart at the University of Birmingham, and made her debut with the English National Opera in a production of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea and continues to appear with this company with regularity in addition to appearances at the Paris Opera. The vast majority of Sampson's singing has been heard in concert engagements with period ensembles, and by 2006 she had appeared with most of the best-known groups of this sort, but especially the King's Consort, Collegium Vocale, and Ex Cathedra. Sampson has recorded extensively for the Hyperion, BIS, Harmonia Mundi, and Deux-elles labels. (Presto Classical)