Baroque Music Starter CD Kit

Here is a great selection of CDs to get you started in baroque music. There is some great music listed on this page!

Christmas Adagio
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert Von Karajan, conductor
Deutsch Grammophon 449 924-2

This album contains full-orchestra versions of four wonderful baroque Christmas concertos:
Giuseppe Torelli(1658-1709) Christmas Concerto Opus 8, Number 6
Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764) Concerto Grosso Opus 1, Number 8
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) Christmas Concerto Opus 6, Number 8
Francesco Manfredini (1684-1762) Christmas Concerto Opus 3, Number 12

This is a must have album!

Albums of Music by Specific Composers

Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750)
The Complete Concertos Opus 9 and the Adagio for Organ and Strings
I Musici
Philips 456 333-2

This CD by the legendary I Musici string ensemble contains the complete Opus 9 concertos of Albinoni and a very well-known, and beautiful, composition called Albinoni's Adagio in G minor for Strings and Organ that was not written by Albinoni at all, but by one Remo Giazotto. The fact that Mr. Giazotto, an Italian Albinoni scholar, wrote this piece, and not Albinoni, has been passed over by record companies. In fact it was this composition, with its erroneous credit, that led to Albinoni's popularity in the last two decades.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantatas #78 and 198
La Chapelle Royale
Philippe Herreweghe
Harmonia Mundi 901270

Cantata #78 is a true treasure

Cantatas #4, 56, and 82
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Munchener Bach-Chor, Karl Richter, director
Archiv 427 128-2

Cantata #4 sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. This is as good as it gets! #56 is one of Bach's great compositions also.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
12 Concerti Grossi, Opus 6
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner, director
London 443 862-2

Sonate a tre
Ensemble Aurora, Enrico Gatti, maestro di concerto
Tactus TC 65030101

Corelli's wonderful string music

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
The Chandos Anthems, I-VI
Collegium Musicum of Rutgers University, Alfred Mann, conductor
Vanguard Classics OVC 8203/04

Concerto Grossi Opus 6
Manze, Academy of Ancient Music
Harmonia Mundi 907228

Giovanni Gabrieli (c1557-1612)
The Glory of Venice: Gabrieli in San Marco
The Gregg Smith Singers, Texas Boys Choir, Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble
and E. Power Biggs
CBS MK42645

Gabrieli's greatest compositions are on this CD.
This is a must have recording!

Gabrieli in San Marco
The Gregg Smith Singers, Texas Boys Choir, Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble and E. Power Biggs
Sony SBK62426

These two albums contain selections from three LPs recorded a number of years ago. They are the great recordings of Gabrieli's sacred music: the finest ever made.

Francesco Geminiani (1687-1782)
Concerto Grossi, Opus 7
The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Iona Brown, director
ASV CD DCA 724

Concerti Grossi Opus 2, 3 and 4
Southwest German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim, Paul Angerer, director
VoxBox CDX 5152

Don Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613)
Sabbato Sancto
Ensemble vocal Européen, Philippe Herreweghe, director
Harmonia Mundi HMT 7901320

Wonderful recording of the sacred responsories for Holy Saturday

Complete Sacred Music for Five Voices
Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly, Director
NAXOS 8.550742

The sacred music for five voices contain some of Gesualdo's finest sacred compositions

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
1610 Vespers
The famous Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, 1610. There are a number of good recordings available. The one we prefer has not yet been released on CD.

L'Orfeo
The first great opera in the history of music. What a fantastic work of art: pastoral, peaceful, calm.

L'Incoronazione di Poppea
Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna Concentus Musicus, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director
Teldec #42547

Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi (Madrigals of Love and War)
English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard, director
Philips 432 503-2

This is Monteverdi's 8th Book of Madrigals, a stunning masterpiece of the first order. Find this CD set and add it to your collection. What a treasure!

Lodovico Da Viadana (c1560-1627)
Responsoria et Lamentationes
Collegium Vocale Nova Ars Cantandi
Stradivarius STR 33444

Vespri di San Luca
Coro Dell'ACCADEMIA Roveretana di Musica Antica
Fonè 94 F 09

Vespri per L'Assumzione della Beata Vergine
Vox Hesperia
Fonè 92 F08 CDE

Missa Solemnis pro Defunctis
Vos Hesperia
Stradivarius STR 22430

Salmi À Quatro Chori
Cappella Breda, Manncke
Erasmus - #169