Ton Koopman - Buxtehude: Cantates - Monteverdi: Vespro della beata vergine, 2CD

By 1683 Buxtehude – who had a huge influence on the young Johann Sebastian Bach – had established an annual concert series which was held over five Sundays late in Trinity and Advent. These Abendmusik concerts, which were given following the afternoon vespers services, offered a leisurely succession of ‘pleasant vocal and instrumental music’. The twelve works heard here offer a colourful overview of Buxtehude’s wide-ranging approach to scoring, structure and style in which the full measure of Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra’s talent leads to a unique achievement.