La Stagione & Michael Schneide - Handel: Rodelinda (1991)

La Stagione Orchestra is a period-instrument ensemble closely associated with music from the Baroque era, most notably works by Telemann, J.S. Bach, and Handel. La Stagione is also known for the rediscovery and championing of compositions by less prominent Baroque figures like Franz Beck, Ignaz Holzbauer, Alessandro Stradella, and several Bach sons. But La Stagione's repertory also takes in works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, including Stockhausen. Consisting of 18 players and conductor Michael Schneider, La Stagione regularly performs with leading vocal ensembles and instrumental soloists, and often tour throughout Europe and appear at the more important early music festivals such as the Handel festivals in Göttingen and Halle, and the Bachfest Leigzig. The ensemble has appeared on more than 30 recordings over the years for such labels as Capriccio, Harmonia Mundi, and CPO.

La Stagione Orchestra was founded in Frankfurt in 1988 by longtime conductor Michael Schneider. The ensemble, also known as La Stagione Frankfurt, quickly drew attention in Germany and nearby parts of Europe. Among its earliest recordings was an acclaimed 1993 CPO disc of the six symphonies, Op. 10, by Carl Friedrich Abel. Throughout the 1990s La Stagione developed a reputation as one of Germany's leading period-instrument ensembles, not least because of its versatility not only in instrumental music, but in choral and operatic works as well. Indeed, the 1997 Deutsche Harmonia Mundi CD of Christmas cantatas by Alessandro Stradella, featuring countertenor Kai Wessel, tenor Christoph Prégardien, soprano Ruth Ziesak, and other leading vocal soloists, was a critically praised effort.

By the early years of the new century La Stagione had become a major presence at music festivals, sometimes presenting important contemporary works, as with its performance of Stockhausen's Zodiac at the 2003 Kassel Music Days Festival in Kassel, Germany. In 2004 La Stagione captured the German Record Critics Prize for a CPO recording of symphonies No. 1, No. 2, and No. 6, Op. 3, by Franz Beck.

In 2007 La Stagione lauched its most extensive recording project to date with volume 1 of the wind concertos of Telemann, on the CPO label. As for live performances, the ensemble was regularly experiencing great success, as evidenced by a June 2009 tour of Spain, which included concerts in Barcelona, Valencia, and Palma de Mallorca. Volume six of La Stagione's Telemann wind concerto series was issued to international acclaim in 2011. -- Robert Cummings