Baroque
Trio Polyphonica
Trio Polyphonica was active from 1980 to 1990, with a repertoire spanning more than three centuries. This recording gathers chamber trios by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, J.S. Bach and Francesco Zappa.
The Pleyel Harpsichord
Roger Heagney plays one of the last harpsichords made by the French Pleyel piano company (1963). Founded in 1807, Pleyel built pianos until 2014. The Concert Grand Harpsichord offers a distinctive sound and seven-pedal colour.
Masters of Baroque
Trio Polyphonica was active between 1980 and 1990, with a repertoire spanning more than three centuries. This programme presents Baroque chamber works by Frescobaldi, Hellendaal, Couperin, Leclair, Rameau and Corelli.
Old Wine, New Bottles
Floyd Williams and JANUS illustrate the cross-fertilisation of folk, popular and jazz idioms within classical music. The premise was to play early music of the 14th–16th centuries on modern instruments, free of purist historical constraints.
More Bizarre or baRock
"The hottest, hippest harpsichord in the world today," said one critic of the best-selling Bizarre or baRock. Melbourne harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson returns with the long-awaited sequel.
Anna Magdalena Bach's Book
Harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson and boy soprano Jacob Lawrence present the complete musical contents of the 1725 notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach, from the beloved Bist du bei mir to suites, chorales and the aria later known from the Goldberg Variations.
Transcriptions Baroque
Recorded in Trinity College Chapel, Melbourne, this disc pairs trumpeter Anthony Pope with organist Dominic Perissinotto across eight Baroque concertos. Four are heard on trumpet with organ accompaniment; the rest are solo organ transcriptions by celebrated organists of their day.
The Rieger at Scots'
So just what does one play to demonstrate the resources of a large, beautifully voiced new organ? Douglas Lawrence sets out the wide tonal palette of the Rieger at The Scots' Church, Melbourne, completed in 1999.
The Convict Harpsichordist
John Grant, frustrated in love, shot a London lawyer in the buttock and was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey. Granted a reprieve, he reached Sydney Cove in 1804 with Australia’s first harpsichord. What music did he play? Elizabeth Anderson answers on the instrument he brought.
Beatus Vir
Recorded live on their 1999 European tour, the Choir of Ormond College under Douglas Lawrence presents small-scale sacred works in up to eight parts by Palestrina, Gesualdo, Handl, Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Stanford and Rheinberger.
La Follia
La Follia variations by Corelli, Vitali, Vivaldi and Scarlatti, in vivid performances by German recorder virtuoso Susanne Ehrhardt with Australian harpsichordist and organist Jacqueline Ogeil.
The Bach Family Circle
Music for oboe and harpsichord. Acclaimed historical oboist Geoffrey Burgess and harpsichordist Ann Murphy explore the hypothetical voice of the lost Bach oboe through realisations and rescorings.
Sonate Metodiche
Two of Australia's finest Baroque musicians, Hans-Dieter Michatz and Linda Kent, perform Telemann's rarely heard Sonate Metodiche for Baroque flute and continuo. Six large-scale sonatas display the variety, colour and detailed ornamentation of the high Baroque.
Buxtehude at the Harpsichord
Acclaimed harpsichordist Jacqueline Ogeil performs rarely heard Buxtehude harpsichord works. Most of these secular pieces surfaced only in the twentieth century; suites, arias and variations in popular Baroque idioms, light and entertaining in character.
Bizarre or baRock
Elizabeth Anderson explores harpsichord music across four centuries: from Conceição’s raw 17th-century battle piece and traditional Baroque repertoire to jazz, blues, Gershwin and the Beatles with drums and bass. Weird, wild, wacky and wonderful – you’ve never heard the harpsichord like this.
The Virtuoso Harpsichord
Melbourne harpsichordist Jacqueline Ogeil presents the instrument’s virtuosic, dramatic and passionate sides, from Bach and Scarlatti to Handel, Rameau and the premiere of Naji Hakim’s suite Shasta.
Historic Organs of the Barossa Valley, Vol. 2
Christopher Dearnley and John Stiller play seven historic Lutheran church organs of South Australia’s Barossa Valley in the second volume of this survey.
Breath of Creation
Flutes of two worlds. On shakuhachi, baroque flute and recorder, two performers renowned in their own fields join forces in a display of virtuosic delights and evocative sound-scapes.
Orgelbüchlein
Calvin Bowman gives an expert reading of J.S. Bach's Little Organ Book – a microcosm of the composer's inventive and improvisational genius – on the Ahrend organ at Robert Blackwood Hall.
Goldberg Variations
A rare chance to hear Bach’s complete Goldberg Variations with every repeat, the fourteen canons on the Goldberg bass, and the Italian Concerto, played by Elizabeth Anderson on harpsichord. Two CDs for the price of one.
Historic Organs of the Barossa Valley, Vol. 1
Christopher Dearnley and John Stiller give striking performances on six historic church organs of South Australia’s Barossa Valley. A 16-page booklet traces the instruments, their builders and the music.
Just Married: Organ Music for a Wedding
A compilation of history's most celebrated organ music, long popular at weddings. The insert notes usefully group the tracks as processionals, recessionals and music for the signing of the register.
Centenary Plus
Sydney City Organist Robert Ampt plays the restored William Hill and Son Grand Organ at Sydney Town Hall in a programme spanning more than a century of music linked with the instrument, from Handel and Bach to Koehne, Dubois, Best and Ampt.
Telemann Duo Sonatas
Lesley Lewis and Joanna Dudley give the first recording of Telemann's second book of Six Duo Sonatas on two recorders: light-hearted Baroque chamber music built on short, memorable themes.
Bamboo Organ
Douglas Lawrence and the Manila Chamber Orchestra. Manila's suburb of Las Piñas boasts the world's only organ with pipes made from bamboo. Solo pieces and Handel's Organ Concerto in G minor show the instrument's range; a bonus disc interviews the restorer.
Musical Portraits from the Salons of Paris
Harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson recreates a salon concert from pre-revolutionary Paris. Grand, lively ‘character pieces’ by Forqueray, Duphly and Balbastre — musical portraits of celebrated figures — are brought to life with deft, accomplished playing.
Baroque Trumpet and Strings
Sonatas and suites by Corelli, Torelli, Telemann, Purcell and Handel sit beside rarely heard works by Molter, Grossi and Biber, several recorded here for the first time on original instruments.
Capella Corelli Plays Handel and Telemann
Capella Corelli has long been one of Australia’s foremost baroque chamber ensembles. Here they present sonatas by Handel and Telemann for baroque violin, recorder, viola da gamba and harpsichord.
Complete Bach Flute Sonatas, Vol. 2
Acclaimed artists present superb performances of the complete Bach flute sonatas.
Complete Bach Flute Sonatas, Vol. 1
Acclaimed artists present superb performances of the complete Bach flute sonatas.
Fandango
Flamboyant Spanish and French Baroque keyboard music from harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson, joined by Douglas Lawrence on chamber organ for Soler’s two-keyboard concerto and Couperin’s musettes.
Festival of Organ Masterpieces
Douglas Lawrence plays favourite organ repertoire on the instrument of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, spanning nearly three centuries of transcriptions and original works.
Pachelbel, His Canon and Much More
Douglas Lawrence plays the Ronald Sharp organ in the Ormond College Chapel, Melbourne, in favourite Baroque organ works by Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Scheidt, Camidge and Greene.
Bach Piano 1
Pianist Judith Lambden continues her long-running survey of Bach’s keyboard works. This programme gathers four early toccatas with the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and the Italian Concerto.
Six Concerti
Hans-Dieter Michatz and Monika Kornel present Georg Philipp Telemann’s Six Concerti from the 1734 Six concerts et six suites, scored here for voice flute, tenor recorder and harpsichord.
Lobe den Herren
Anthony Halliday gives a varied organ recital on the historic instrument at Melbourne's Trinity Lutheran Church. The programme runs from grand Bach works through Mozart and a Bach–Vivaldi concerto to his own transcription of the finale of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Love Reconciled
A landmark in Australian early-music performance, The Marais Project’s Love Reconciled is a recording to return to often and savour deeply.
Six Organ Concertos - G. F. Handel
These ever-popular concertos by Handel appear here in the composer's own arrangements for organ alone, played on the historic 1888 George Fincham organ in Richmond Uniting Church.
Josquin to Martin
A miscellany spanning High and Late Renaissance motets and nineteenth- and twentieth-century sacred works, drawn from Ensemble Gombert’s first European tour in 2004. The programme was chosen to complement Hommage à Gombert, then in production, with Gombert, Lassus and Monteverdi.
Bach Sacred Songs and Chorus
Melbourne choir Aspiration in Harmony, with soprano Bente Lancaster and director Andrew Blackburn, presents sacred songs and chorales from the Anna Magdalena Notebook and Schemelli’s hymn book.
Eclectic Collection
The mandolin orchestra is remarkably versatile. This recording sets out to show that range and the ensemble’s distinctive colour across a programme that moves freely between styles and cultures.
Salut d'Amour
Concordia Mandolin and Guitar Ensemble offers a warm European tour for plucked strings, crowned by Elgar's Salut d'Amour in an arrangement for mandolin orchestra.
Praise the Lord his Glories Show
Sacred music from the 16th century through Baroque and Romantic repertoire to Afro-American spirituals, sung by one of Melbourne's finest choirs under Douglas Lawrence.