Antonín Reichenauer
Concertos

ABOUT THE RECORDING

In contrast to works of sacred music that have been preserved in numerous copies, instrumental works of domestic authors in Prague from the first third of the eighteenth century are something of a rarity. Almost twenty instrumental compositions by Antonín Reichenauer count among the most important of these. Reichenauer worked as a musician in the band of Count Morzin, where he took over the role of the Count’s house composer after Johann Friedrich Fasch. The excellent level of the band is evident from the Count’s regular contacts with Antonio Vivaldi. Morzin hired him as his “maestro di musica in Italia” and Vivaldi dedicated to him, among other compositions, his opus 8 which contains the famous Four Seasons. The rareness of Reichenauer’s virtuoso concertos is further underlined by their extreme technical sophistication, which put the proficiency of the players in the band to a test – and Vivaldi himself praised their skill! Many musicians today would still find them challenging. Not so the magician Sergio Azzolini and other soloists on this recording. Together with the Collegium 1704, they perform Reichenauer’s concerts with the temperament and energy required by the music.

This CD has received the Diapason d’Or and has been selected as “CD der Woche” by the German station MDR.

Supraphon, 2010