world premiere recording of the oratorio from 1730

Ensemble Inégal, directed by Adam Viktora
 

Rediscovering unjustly forgotten composers and their music is a fine experience and adventure at the same time, and this CD offers music-lovers both. J. J. I. Brentner (1689 - 1742) was one of the most successful Czech composers of his time (measured by the number of compositions published in print). Thanks to missionaries, his music got as far as South America only to lapse into total oblivion after his death for more than a quarter of a millennium. The demands that his beautiful melodies place on performers gives one an idea of how accomplished the instrumentalists and singers of his time must have been. Our CD (world recording premiere) was made using period musical instruments in Baroque surroundings by the group Ensemble Inégal specializing, in particular, in historically enlightened interpretation of 17th- and 18-th century music. Please, accept our invitation to the realm of lovely sounds and joy of discovering the as yet unknown.

Litaniae lauretanae „Consolatrix afflictorum“, ZWV 151

Ivan Ženatý – violin, Zuzana Růžičková – harpsichord, Petr Hejný – viola da gamba

This CD of Bach´s less familiar sonatas offers a glimpse into works not only by Bach, the father, but also those by his sons. Though originally ascribed to Johann Sebastian and given BWV catalogue numbers, musicologists today suspect some of them may well have been composed by his sons. However, this measure of doubt about the actual authorship detracts nothing from their sheer musical beauty, enhanced as it is by the virtuoso performance of all the players.