Frans du

In the Telemann mountains, much of the topography remains terra incognita because most of Telemann's music remains an undiscovered country. But whatever future generations of hardy musicologists may uncover, it is unlikely that Telemann's Nouveaux Quatuors en Six Suites published in Paris in 1738 will be displaced as among his output's highest peaks.

The pianist on this CD, Yulliana Avdeeva, is the winner of the Chopin piano competition in 2010. Checking the internet, you will find that the decision by the jury was controversial. Her playing was considered not to display the proper Chopin style, and too cool. I wasn't present at the competition, so I cannot write much about this. But having bought this CD, mainly because of use of old instruments, and the direction by the recently deceased icon of old music Frans Brüggen, I must say that I was totally blown away by the playing of Yulianna Avdeeva.

«Somme nous trop bêtes pour comprendre l'intelligence des animaux ?» est un livre qui surprend. Frans de Waal, psychologue et primatologue mondialement reconnu, nous amène à réexaminer tout ce que nous croyions savoir sur l'intelligence animale et humaine. Fascinant ! …

Franciscus (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist.

Dardanus (1739) was Rameau's third excursion into tragedie-lyrique and Les boreades (1764), his last. Both works contain rich seams of inventive and colourful orchestral movements from which Frans Bruggen has created orchestral suites. In the case of Dardanus the quantity of dances and other miscellaneous instrumental pieces is unusually substantial, since for a revival of the opera in 1744 Rameau had been obliged to compose much new music.

Traditionalists may rue the day, but the historical performance movement has come to Chopin, and it's clear it has a lot to offer in this release by Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner and the veteran Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Brüggen. Goerner plays an 1849 Erard instrument, some 20 years younger than the music of the youthful Chopin that's on the program, but arguably representative of a sound ideal he would have had in his head.

One of the many delights coming from Frans Brüggen’s distinguished career has been the understanding which he brings to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach – such as here with the St. John Passion – whether on the concert platform or on record. Brüggen’s cultured feeling for Bach’s musical structures as much as for its style and expressive content permits a textural clarity enjoyed by few of his directing colleagues. A special wealth of experience in the music of Bach has also been gained by the members of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century across the three decades of its existence and as part of its regular concert series (there have now been over a hundred of these tours!) and with a concentrated opportunity to focus on one work, Bach’s masterpiece was performed and recorded in Spring 2010.