Martin Stadtfeld & Lilian Akopova - Baroque Colours (2023) Hi-Res

Martin Stadtfeld's new double album "Baroque Colours" presents a colorful sound panorama of the Baroque - with original works from Bach to Rameau as well as his own arrangements of well-known Baroque hits and unknown musical gems.
On "Baroque Colours," Stadtfeld plays a personal selection of short original works by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Domenico Scarlatti and the great French Baroque composers François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau on a modern grand piano. But Stadtfeld has also selected pieces by lesser-known composers for the first part of the album, such as Joachim Kuhnau, Baldassare Galuppi, Antonio Soler and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer.
For the second part of "Baroque Colours" Stadtfeld has chosen works that are particularly close to his heart and arranged them anew for piano. Among them are piano versions of famous pieces such as the "Summer" and the "Winter" from Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" or Johann Pachelbel's Canon, of which he created a version for piano four hands and recorded it with the pianist Lilian Akopova. The latter is also his partner in the versions, also for four hands, of the first prelude from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the "Passacaglia" from Lully's opera "Armida".
In addition, Stadtfeld improvises on "Baroque Colours" on musical themes by Bach (including the famous Air) and by Handel, but also on lesser-known works - by Joachim Kuhnau or Melchior Vulpius (Four Improvisations on "Ach bleib mit Deiner Gnade") as well as on Corelli's violin sonata "La Follia".
With the program of "Baroque Colours" Martin Stadtfeld pays homage to an epoch lasting from the early 17th century to the middle of the 18th century and its musical richness. The "intellectual" preoccupation with music, such as that of Bach with his fugues, can be experienced just as much as the brilliant virtuosity with which Couperin, Rameau or Scarlatti also showed off. In addition, Stadtfeld's arrangements range from the baroque opera of Jean-Baptiste Lully to concertos such as Georg Philipp Telemann's Trumpet Concerto and the ballet music of the Englishman Henry Purcell, who was celebrated as "Orpheus Britannicus.
Tracklist
CD1
1. Johann Kuhnau: Prelude from "Partie V" in G-Major
2. Johann Kuhnau: Gigue from "Partie V" in G-Major
3. Francois Couperin: Prélude No. 7 in B-Major
4. Francois Couperin: Les Barricades Mystérieuses
5. Johann Sebastian Bach: Andante from the Sonata BWV 964
6. Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in f- minor, K. 466
7. Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A minor, K. 54
8. Georg Friedrich Händel: Sonata B-flat Major HWV 434 Prelude
9. Georg Friedrich Händel: Sonata B-flat Major HWV 434 Allegro
10. Georg Friedrich Händel: Sonata B-flat Major HWV 434 Aria con Variazioni
11. Jean-Philippe Rameau: Gigue en Rondeau (from Suite in E - minor)
12. Jean-Philippe Rameau: Tambourin (from Suite in E minor)
13. Baldassare Galuppi: Sonata No. 3 C minor: I Allegro moderato
14. Baldassare Galuppi: Sonata No. 3 C minor II. Allegro
15. Antonio Soler: Sonata No. 21 in C-sharp minor, R. 21
16. Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer: Tambourins, Suite des Matelots
17. Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer: Le Marche des Scythes
18. Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue E- flat major from Well-tempered Clavier, Book 2, BWV 876: I. Praeludium
19. Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue E- flat major from Well-tempered Clavier, Book 2, BWV 876: II. Fuga

CD2
1. J. S. Bach: Prelude No.1 in C-Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: (arr. for four hands - with Liliana Akopova, piano)
2. Jean-Baptiste Lully: Passacaglia from Armide, LWV 71 (version for four hands - with Lilian Akopova)
3. Johann Pachelbel: Canon (arranged for piano with four hands - with Liliana Akopova)
4. Henry Purcell: "Hush, no more, be silent" (from The Fairy Queen)
5. Henry Purcell: Chaconne-Dance for Chinese Man and Women (from The Fairy Queen)
6. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons Summer (after Four Seasons, Summer RV 315, III, Presto)
7. Antonio Vivaldi: Four Seasons Winter (after Four Seasons Winter, RV 297, III, Allegro-Lento)
8. Georg Philipp Telemann: Allegro (from Trumpet Concerto in D Major TWV 51: D7)
9. Gaspar Sanz: Canarios
10. Georg Friedrich Händel: Praise (arr. for piano from "Dank sei Dir, Herr", Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, fake by Siegfried Ochs)
11. Johann Kuhnau: Piano Improvisation 1 (after Prelude from Partita)
12. Johann Kuhnau: Piano Improvisation 2 (after Prelude from Partita V)
13. Johann Sebastian Bach: Piano Mediation 1 (after Minuet in D minor from "Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach")
14. Johann Sebastian Bach: Piano Meditation 2 (after Minuet in G minor, "Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach")
15. Johann Sebastian Bach: Air Piano Meditation
16. Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugue Piano Mediation (after Fugue for Organ in G minor, BWV 578)
17. Georg Friedrich Händel: Chaconne Piano Mediation (after Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435)
18. Georg Friedrich Händel: Sarabande from Suite in D minor, HWV 437)
19. Georg Friedrich Händel: Aria Piano Meditation (after Aria "Eternal Source of Light Divine")
20. Arcangelo Corelli: Folia Piano Variation 1 (after A. Corelli: Violin Sonata in D minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12)
21. Arcangelo Corelli: Folia Piano Variation 2
22. Arcangelo Corelli: Prelude Piano Variation (after Corelli, Prelude from Violin Sonata in F Major, Op. 5 No.10)
23. Melchior Vulpius: Piano Improvisation 1 (After "Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade")
24. Melchior Vulpius: Piano Improvisation 2 (After "Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade")
25. Melchior Vulpius: Piano Improvisation 3 (After "Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade")
26. Melchior Vulpius: Piano Improvisation 4 (After "Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade")