Not much remains of the legacy of Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772–1847). He was a major figure in Amsterdam, admired both as a composer and a pianist. He premiered the concertos of his contemporaries, Mozart and Beethoven, to great acclaim. He was a professor at the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Instituut voor Wetenschappen. He judged composition contests and […]
Michael Alexander Willens
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Kölner Akademie’s Telemann Easter Cantatas Highly Recommended
Let’s be clear. This is a mere sampling of Georg Philipp Telemann’s output for Easter. After all, he composed Easter cantatas and oratorios for about sixty years. And often more than one for a specific date. This release focuses on works composed during the 1720s. Telemann was in his 30s, working in Frankfurt. He was the city’s […]
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Le jour variable — Stamitz anticipates Beethoven
If you’re not familiar with Carl Stamitz, this release is a good place to start. Carl Stamitz was the son of Johann Stamitz. Johann was the leader of the Mannheim Palace orchestra, the incubator of the classical style. The Mannheim School inspired both Haydn and Mozart. These composers took the Mannheim innovations to the next […]
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Kölner Akademie continues excellent Telemann Christmas series
This volume features two Advent and two Christmas cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann. The difference between these liturgical seasons has blurred over time. But in the 1700s there was a clear difference. Advent was the season anticipated the birth of Christ — hopeful, but waiting. Christmas marked the arrival of Christ, and the twelve days […]
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Weber Piano and Orchestral Music in Good Hands
In a way, I suppose, this release was the next logical step. Pianist Ronald Brautigam and the Kölner Akademie have already recorded the complete piano concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. Presenting those of Carl Maria von Weber helps fill out that timeline. Von Weber was a younger contemporary of Ludwig van Beethoven, and his music […]
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Homilius Christmas Cantatas beat the rush
This release had me scratching my head. Why was an album of Advent and Christmas music released in February? Most folks (even me) have our Christmas decorations dismantled and packed away for another year. Of course, these cantatas by Gottfried August Homilius don’t really have a Christmassy sound. Homilius wrote in the empfindsamer style, which supplanted the […]
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Telemann Christmas Oratorios – stellar performances from the Kölner Akademie
For Telemann, 1730-31 was the “year of oratorios.” Given the rich musical resources of Hamburg, he wrote a series of oratorios for the liturgical year. Michael Alexander Willens and the Kölner Akademie perform three of these recently rediscovered works, all centered around Christmas. The Baroque oratorio was closely related to opera, and Telemann wrote accordingly. The […]
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Anton Eberl Emerges from the Shadow of Mozart
Pianist/composer Anton Eberl was a contemporary of Beethoven and a student of Mozart. Some of Eberl’s works were misattributed to Mozart, and that’s not surprising. As this new release shows, Eberl’s style is quite similar to Mozart’s. But not quite identical (a lot of the misattribution was done by unscrupulous publishers). The two sonatas for […]
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Carl Abel Symphonies Op. 1 and Op. 4
Carl Abel was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach and a business partner with his son Johann Christian. His music shares some of the qualities of the “London” Bach. The works on this collection come from two publications. Abel’s Opus 1 was published in 1760, his Opus 4 two years later. Both sets feature short, […]