Agostino Steffani: Duetti da Camera (1982)

Released in 1982, this album of vocal duets with continuo was a landmark of the early music movement. It has been reissued several times, appearing in 2012 on the revived Archiv Produktion imprint from Germany. Steffani was a famous composer during the mid-Baroque era, known for decades across the length and breadth of Europe, but even the Baroque revival has never quite given him his due. Part of the reason is that his works are brutally difficult, and it often takes a Cecilia Bartoli (whose Steffani album is most ... Read More

Released in 1982, this album of vocal duets with continuo was a landmark of the early music movement. It has been reissued several times, appearing in 2012 on the revived Archiv Produktion imprint from Germany. Steffani was a famous composer during the mid-Baroque era, known for decades across the length and breadth of Europe, but even the Baroque revival has never quite given him his due. Part of the reason is that his works are brutally difficult, and it often takes a Cecilia Bartoli (whose Steffani album is most enthusiastically recommended) to pull them off. These little duets, on extravagant romantic themes, are sectional pieces of great subtlety and charm. The album, with a quartet of singers of the era accompanied by Baroque vocal-music pioneer Alan Curtis on harpsichord, is not quite in that league, but it's worth remembering that it was among the first albums of its kind even to enter the ballpark, and it has held up very well. The singers catch the varied qualities of these duets, which make... Read Less