Catalogue

Summary:

“A new AVIE recording by Apollo’s Fire under Jeannette Sorrell provides some delightful musical juxtapositions anchored in Bach’s own time … The Sorrell disc opens with a light and lively rendition of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, the fine flute playing highlighted throughout and the emotional expressiveness of the central Andante proving highly effective before the exuberant bounce of the concluding Presto … The Sorrell disc … is enchanting because of the numerous ways in which it explores and explicates the realm of Bach’s influence in his own lifetime.” ★★★★ – Infodad.com

“… the performance sparkles, with Alan Choo delivering a virtuosic violin solo and Daphna Mor and Kathie Stewart excelling on recorder. The ensemble’s cohesion is impressive… The slow movement is exquisite, with well-balanced phrasing, delicious sound, and a magical muted harpsichord accompaniment...”  ★★★★ - John Hendron, AudiophileAudition.com 

“If you need a caffeine hit to sober up, then the latest from Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire should hit the spot” ★★★★ – Andrew McGregor, BBC Music Magazine

New Classical Tracks: https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2025/01/15/new-classical-tracks

“The sound … is immediate and dynamic, with the period instrument sonorities never harsh or fatiguing.”★★★★ – Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound

Billboard Traditional Classical Chart No. 1

Bach’s Coffeehouse brings together a selection of Apollo’s Fire recordings – old and new alike – featuring repertoire that is believed to have been performed at Café Zimmerman in Leipzig, the city where Johann Sebastian Bach served as Cantor. Coffee houses were all the rage at the time, centres for socialising and musical soirees. Bach would have found respite from his formal duties as Cantor, by curating informal concerts at the thriving coffee emporium.

Bach’s Coffeehouse features new recordings of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 with virtuoso soloists Alan Choo, the Singaporean violinist and Assistant Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire, and recorder player Daphna Mohr; the Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin with Debra Nagy and violinist Johanna Novom; and “Air on a G String” from Orchestral Suite No. 3. Rounding out the album, Apollo’s Fire brings back catalogue favourites by two of Bach’s contemporaries: Telemann’s swaggering Don Quixote Suite, and Vivaldi’s fiery “La folia”, featuring Alan Choo and Spanish violinist Francisco Fullana.

Tracklist:

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 in G major, BWV 1049*
Alan Choo, violin | Daphna Mor & Kathie Stewart, recorders
1. I. Allegro (7:05)
2. II. Andante (3:48)
3. III. Presto (4:58)

GEORG PHILLIP TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55**
4. I. Ouverture (4:31)
5. II. Don Quixote awakens (1:40)
6. III. His attack on the windmills (1:55)
7. IV. Sighs of love for Princess Dulcinea (3:35)
8. V. Sancho Panza tossed in a blanket (1:47)
9. VI. The galloping of Rosinante, and that of Sancho’s mule (2:40)
10. VII. Quixote asleep 1:11

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068*
11. II. Air 4:39

Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060*
Debra Nagy, oboe | Johanna Novom, violin
12. I. Allegro (4:55)
13. II. Adagio (5:14)
14. III. Allegro (3:38)

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741), arr. Sorrell
15. La Folia (“Madness”) Concerto grosso, after the Sonata Op. 1, no. 12  (10:48)**
Francisco Fullana & Alan Choo, violins

Total duration: 62:34

*Previously unreleased
** 2024 remaster

(1–3) recorded November 2023 at St. Paul’s Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Producer and Editor: Erica Brenner; Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores
(4–10) recorded October 2002 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Producer and Editor: Erica Brenner; Recording Engineer: Thomas Knab
(11) recorded April 2021 at First Baptist Church, Shaker Heights, OH
Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores; Editor: Erica Brenner
(12-14) recorded February 2018 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Producer and Editor: Erica Brenner; Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores
(15) recorded April 2021 at Avon Lake United Church of Christ, Avon Lake, OH
Producer and Editor: Erica Brenner; Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores
Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores