Bach’s three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord, BWV 1027-29 have been variously dated, either to Bach’s Cöthen period, where as Kapellmeister he was responsible for all instrumental music, and had at his disposal a small but outstanding ensemble of musicians, or to the later period in Leipzig, when he was occupied with the Collegium Musicum. These intensely expressive and often technically demanding, yet intimate works have the usual texture of Bach’s instrumental sonatas, with two upper parts supported by a bass part.

Franz Schubert’s chamber music occupies a vital place in the Western classical canon, demonstrating both his lyrical genius and emotional depth. Though he is widely known for his lieder and symphonies, his chamber works represent some of the most profound and innovative compositions of the early Romantic era.

Finnish harpsichordist Aapo Häkkinen plays Book I of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier on the Christian Vater harpsichord preserved in Nuremberg and on an equally historic clavichord - according to tradition, Bach was particularly fond of this instrument! Two of the 24 pairs of Preludes and Fugues are presented in an alternative instrumentation on the historic North German organ of Backemoor.

Finnish harpsichordist Aapo Häkkinen plays Book I of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier on the Christian Vater harpsichord preserved in Nuremberg and on an equally historic clavichord - according to tradition, Bach was particularly fond of this instrument! Two of the 24 pairs of Preludes and Fugues are presented in an alternative instrumentation on the historic North German organ of Backemoor.

This album by the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra playing on period instruments under the direction of Aapo Häkkinen includes Ludwig van Beethovens complete incidental music to Goethes Egmont. This complete music includes parts sung by soprano Elisabeth Breuer as well as spoken texts narrated by Robert Hunger-Bühler.

Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir led by Aapo Hakkinen join their forces together with an impressive vocal cast, Carolyn Sampson, Benno Schachtner, Werner Gura, Jonathan Sells and Cornelius Uhle, in this unique release of rarely heard choral works by Robert Schumann (1810-1856). This recording includes the world premiere recording of Schumann's 17-minute Adventlied, Op. 71 for soloists, chorus and orchestra, four choral ballades based on texts by Emanuel Geibel, and Schumann's version of Bach's Cantata BWV 105. Robert Schumann wrote in 1850: "Keep in mind that there are also singers, and that the highest in musical expression is achieved through the chorus and orchestra."

[Bach] speaks to us in his work in such clear terms that we may quite well call these fugues poems. (…) These have warmth, quiet joy, love. And running through all the poems, dressed in different guises, is the main theme, creating order, binding the work as a whole together: it is a safe bond in all it's diversity. Over all lies the proximity of death." (Enzio Forsblom) In this new recording, Bach's final magnum opus is played by Aapo Häkkinen on a harpsichord built in 1614 by Andreas Ruckers the Elder (1579-?1652) and which belonged to the composer John Blow (1649-1708), organist of Westminster Abbey and former teacher of Henry Purcell. A tradition exists that G.F. Handel had also played this harpsichord.

“[Bach] speaks to us in his work in such clear terms that we may quite well call these fugues poems. (…) These have warmth, quiet joy, love. And running through all the poems, dressed in different guises, is the main theme, creating order, binding the work as a whole together: it is a safe bond in all its diversity. Over all lies the proximity of death.” (Enzio Forsblom). In this new recording, Bach’s final magnum opus is played by Aapo Häkkinen on a harpsichord built in 1614 by Andreas Ruckers the Elder (1579–?1652) and which belonged to the composer John Blow (1649–1708), organist of Westminster Abbey and former teacher of Henry Purcell. A tradition exists that G.F. Handel had also played this harpsichord.

William Byrd’s keyboard music has always stood in the shadow of his vocal compositions. Drawing simultaneously on English and Italian Renaissance traditions, Byrd created a remarkable musical language that was flexible and entirely refined keyboard instruments of his time.

William Byrd’s keyboard music has always stood in the shadow of his vocal compositions. Drawing simultaneously on English and Italian Renaissance traditions, Byrd created a remarkable musical language that was flexible and entirely refined keyboard instruments of his time. Both keyboard instruments used on this recording are original pieces.

Wanda Landowska’s excellent essay on the Goldberg Variations (La Revue Musical, 1933) serves as liner notes for this release. She describes the variations as “tyrannical in their exigencies; the relentless contrapuntal speculations require a mathematical distribution of light and shadow”. Häkkinen has clearly taken her words to heart. He uses every tool at his disposal to make Bach’s meticulously calculated chiaroscuro apparent to the listener. Gracefully placed agogic accents in the first variation give the music a feeling of weightlessness. … There are innumerable such treasures of interpretation here.

Mozart’s friend Franz Xaver Dussek (in whose summer villa he completed Don Giovanni) was a pianist, celebrated teacher and the leading composer of instrumental music in Prague. Like his compatriot Vanhal, Dussek completed his musical training in Vienna and, unsurprisingly, his works reflect the strong influence of composers such as Hofmann, Haydn and Dittersdorf. Dussek’s symphonies, most of which appear to have been composed in the 1760s and 1770s, are works of great charm and vivacity, cleverly orchestrated and full of striking melodic ideas as this recording amply demonstrates.

This new album by the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Aapo Häkkinen together with the Audi Jugendchorakademie and bassoonist Jani Sunnarborg featuring late works by composer Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775–1838) makes an important addition to the recordings of Nordic Classical period works and of early Finnish music. Highlight of the album is the world première recording of Crusell’s Viking-themed ‘The Last Warrior’ (Den sista kämpen), the composer’s last large-scale composition.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) was the most famous and successful son of the great Johann Sebastian. He was a protagonist of the Empfindsame Stil, intended to express true and natural feelings, featuring sudden contrasts of mood and emotions.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was widely known for his passionate, incomparable improvisations on the clavichord, most characteristically in the form of free fantasia. His compositions were unique in style, full of contrasts, and universally admired by several generations; the Vienna Classicists, even Beethoven and Schubert, considered him their musical father.