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​Ina Siedlaczek and the Lautten Compagney present George Frideric Handel's Nine German Arias alongside arias from his Brockes Passion.

Siedlaczek's pure and flexible voice is ideally suited to these works; her direct and natural style of singing balances the opulence of the baroque texts.

The instrumental sonorities on this recording are characterised by an extraordinarily colourful sound palette both in the melody and the continuo parts: the obbligato instrumental part is taken in turn (even within the same aria) by a flute, oboe and violin and also playing together. In the aria Brich mein Herz, zerfließ in Tränen (track 3), the violin part is played by a viola da gamba, giving this piece an especially personal character. The continuo is shared by organ, harpsichord, harp, lute, theorbo, bassoon and cello, providing a richly sonorous base for the texts and melodies of the solo parts.

The varied colours of the instruments provide a fitting context for Ina Siedlaczek's nuanced interpretations, paving the way to the texts whose language is far removed from today's idiom. Nonetheless, nearly three hundred years later, the spiritual reflections of the poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes, set to music by George Frideric Handel, continue to fascinate us with their timeless musical message. Ina Siedlaczek and the Lautten Compagney perform with great dedication and attention to detail.

​On April 1st, this year's International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) were awarded in Leipzig. The audite production Maureen Forrester won in the category historic recordings. The winners were introduced and honoured with a festive award ceremony and a top-class gala concert with the Gewandhausorchester under Francesco Angelico.
 
The jury consists exclusively of professional critics for classical music from international media. This guarantees the high level and the independency of the ICMA. Both makes the ICMA the most important international music award, a similar concept on international level cannot be found elsewhere. Thus we feel particularly honoured to receive an ICMA!

Maureen Forrester was one of the few genuine alto singers during the period after 1945. Encouraged by Bruno Walter, she was one of the most important Mahler interpreters of her time. The recordings released here, for the first time, document her activities in the area of the Lied accompanied by piano to an extent unknown until now, including her collaboration with the legendary accompanist Michael Raucheisen. The

Statement of the Jury:
"Historic recordings in a varied song program by Canada's legendary alto Maureen Forrester are something truly rare today. The deep, dark-toned voice reveals the richness of a great singer as well as a magnificent artistic personality."

The 17 members of the ICMA jury from 14 countries are all professional music critics of important magazines, online services and radio stations: Andante (Turkey), Crescendo (Belgium), das orchester (Germany), Gramofon (Hungary), HRT (Croatia), IMZ (Austria), MDR-Figaro (Germany), Musica (Italy), Musical Life (Russia), Musik & Theater (Switzerland), Opera (UK), Orpheus Radio (Russia), Pizzicato (Luxembourg), Radio 100,7 (Luxembourg), Resmusica.com (France), Rondo Classic (Finland), and Scherzo (Spain).
 
pictures:
ICMA winners & jury (photo credit: Gert Mothes)
Bilder:
- Ludger Böckenhoff (Tonmeister and producer audite), Sabine Wiedemann (press officer audite), Dr. Hans Dieter Heimendahl (DLR)
- Sabine Wiedemann (Press Officer audite), Dr. Hans Dieter Heimendahl (DLR), Remy Franck (Präsident ICMA)
- Dr. Hans Dieter Heimendahl (DLR)
 - Matti Salminen (Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Daniel Müller-Schott, Gewandhausorchester, Francesco Angelico
(photo credits: Martin Hoffmeister, Serhan Bali, Remy Franck)

The video for our April release "Bogenhauser Künstlerkapelle" is now online. Experience the forgotten Early Music avantgarde in picture and sound.

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​​Since 2011, the Michael Measures Prize has awarded in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts to one student of NYO Canada who is an "outstanding, young Canadian musician who plays an orchestral instrument." In 2017, this prize is in the amount of $25,000 with the winner also receiving an opportunity to perform a solo concerto performance during the NYO Canada's tour.
After Cameron Crozmann (2012) and Daniel Hass (2016) Bryan Cheng is the third cellist receiving this award.

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