Now That's What I Call Baroque Etc

I bought this disk early on in my classical collecting and it isn't the sort of disk that I would now bother with. But it still makes pleasant listening on a grey and dreary November afternoon. Entitled Baroque Favourites, it is a bit of a Classic FM style production and I had assumed that it was cobbled together from various earlier releases. I now see that all of the pieces are played by the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester under Karl munchinger, however, which indicates it was a specially recorded release. Many of the pieces are familiar in the extreme; Pachelbel's Kanon, Dance of the Blessed Spirits by Gluck ( you'll know the tune if not the title ), Boccherini's Minuet, Bach's Air on a G String and what is known as Albinoni's Adagio but is in fact a 20th century confection by Italian musicologist Giazotto, referencing various Venetian baroque composers. There are also two fine oboe concertos by Handel, with soloist Lothar Koch, and Handel's organ concerto the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, with soloist Martin Haselbock. There's one of Handel's Water Music suites and the disk ends with the novelty Toy Symphony by Wolfie's dad Leopold Mozart, which it must be said, does tend to outstay its' welcome.