Henrico Albicastro

La Sfera Armoniosa plays Albicastro

Mike Fentross | La Sfera Armoniosa | Kano Imada

Label: Challenge Classics
Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917200850

Catalog number: CC 720085
Releasedate: 13-11-26

- World premiere recording of Albicastro’s complete Op. 7 Concerti
- Volume 4 of the “Dutch Masters of the 18th Century”
- This CD series has brought half-forgotten Dutch composers like Pieter Hellendaal, Willem de Fesch and Van Wassenear to international attention
- Rediscovering a forgotten Baroque master Albicastro with a remarkable hidden history
- Performed by the award-winning early music ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa and leader Mike Fentross
- Historically informed performances that combine scholarship with expressive vitality
- A live recording capturing the energy and immediacy of the concert experience

Henrico Albicastro (1660-1730) remains one of the great enigmas of the Baroque era. Published under an elegant Italian pseudonym, he was in fact Johann Heinrich Weissenburg - a cavalry officer in the Dutch States Army whose remarkable musical legacy lay hidden behind a military career. His Opus 7 Concerti reveal a composer of striking originality, combining the expressive richness of the Italian Baroque with a distinctive voice that deserves to stand alongside the finest music of the early eighteenth century.

In this live recording, Mike Fentross and La Sfera Armoniosa continue their acclaimed exploration of overlooked Baroque masterpieces, bringing Albicastro’s rarely heard concertos vividly to life through historically informed performance. With energy, elegance, and a spirit of discovery, they invite listeners to rediscover a forgotten master whose music transcends the mystery of his life and confirms his place among the most compelling voices of his time.