Search - Jan Dismas Zelenka, Jurgen Sonnentheil, Das Neu-Eroffnete Orchestre :: Zelenka: Complete Orchestral Works, Vol 2 /Das Neu-Eroffnete Orchestre * Sonnentheil

Nice Baroque Album -- Very Interesting Composer

Donald Rogers | Seattle, WA United States | 02/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you love Bach, but are bored by Telemann and Vivaldi, you should check out Jan Dismas Zelenka. I'm no music theorist, but even I can recognize something unusual about his music, which makes it a much more intellectually and emotionally stimulating than most Baroque wallpaper music. If nothing else, Zelenka's titles seem centuries out of his time. For example, you might expect a piece called "Hypochondria in A" to have been written by someone like John Cage. Unless you know, you would certainly not suspect a composer who lived from 1679 to 1745.This Sonnentheil series is up to volume 3 now. I haven't heard its competition, but all three of these volumes are competently played and recorded. If you're into Zelenka, this seems like a good way to get his orchestral music without a lot of duplications.If you're interested, I would also recommend the Holliger version of Zelenka's Trio Sonatas. It's excellent."