Upon beholding Harmonia Mundi's release Ouvertüren für die Hamburger Oper (Music for the Hamburg Opera) and its front cover illustration of neatly periwigged nobles seated in boxes at the opera house, one might think -- "it's all Telemann, right?" However, one would be wrong; after all, this is the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin one of the world's most provident and incisive period instrument ensembles. It has limited the scope of Ouvertüren für die Hamburger Oper to the first 50 years of the operation of the Hamburg Opera, ...
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Upon beholding Harmonia Mundi's release Ouvertüren für die Hamburger Oper (Music for the Hamburg Opera) and its front cover illustration of neatly periwigged nobles seated in boxes at the opera house, one might think -- "it's all Telemann, right?" However, one would be wrong; after all, this is the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin one of the world's most provident and incisive period instrument ensembles. It has limited the scope of Ouvertüren für die Hamburger Oper to the first 50 years of the operation of the Hamburg Opera, from 1678 to 1726. What Ouvertüren für die Hamburger Oper exposes is a rich vein of totally unknown Baroque orchestral works in splendid, shimmering, and exciting performances that make full use of the known instrumental resources of the period.Variously labeled Suite, Ouverture, Concert, and Sinfonia, all but one of the five pieces here takes the form of the Baroque dance suite, consisting of several variable short movements. These are played by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin with...
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