Every year at this time, I compile a list of some of my favorite recent recordings to recommend for your holiday gift giving. For many years the goal has been pretty straightforward: to give you practical guidance and take away a little bit of the stress of getting ready for the holiday season, which can sometimes be chaotic.
Listening to music is itself a gift. It can provide comfort or brighten our mood, it can be a welcome distraction, or be a soothing balm. As a regular listener, you and I enjoy the music on Sunday Baroque every week.
Now more than ever we need to focus on the things that connect us, the things that bring light and positivity into our lives, and I think these musical selections are a great place to start.
They are interesting works, beautifully performed. They include some of your favorite musicians, as well as some names that may be new to you. Whether you choose to add any of them to your library, give them as gifts, or simply enjoy auditioning them each week, I hope you will enjoy discovering these wonderful musicians and recordings with me over the last weeks of 2025.
-Suzanne Bona, host of Sunday Baroque
Amandine Beyer – violin & leader, Gli Incogniti, Harmonia Mundi HMM902769.70
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Marcello, and Benedetto Marcello. Bach was a curious and studious musician who honed his skills, in part, by exploring music by other talented people. This lovely recording features some of the musical influences on Bach by Vivaldi and the two Marcello brothers. Violinist Amandine Beyer founded Gli Incogniti in 2006 with a group of friends, and the rapport shines through – there’s nothing quite like hearing friends making music together. The period instrument group is named after the Accademia degli Incogniti, an artistic and academic circle that was active in 17th century Venice.
BEYOND BACH – FORGOTTEN TREASURES OF THE GERMAN BAROQUE
Astrid Knöchlein – oboe/recorder, Attilio Cremonesi, Daniel Rosin, Thomas Widmer, Rosario Conte, ARS Produktion ARS38670
If you’re ready to go “beyond Bach” and listen to music by some of his less well-known German contemporaries this is a great choice. Oboe and recorder virtuosa Astrid Knöchlein gives elegant performances of music by some of Bach’s exciting contemporaries, including Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann David Heinichen, Andreas Heinrich Schulze, Johann Sigismund Weiss, Johann Ulich, Johann Scherer, Johann Heinrich Freytag, Johann Christian Schickhardt, and Christoph Schaffrath.
HEINRICH BIBER – COMPLETE VIOLIN SONATAS (1681)
Bojan Čičić, The Illyria Consort, Delphian DCD34334
German musician Heinrich Biber was an outstanding violinist and imaginative innovator who pushed the boundaries of violin playing and (and music, in general) in the 17th century. This 2-CD recording featuring Bojan Čičić and The Illyria Consort presents Biber’s extraordinary violin sonatas, and the composer’s innovations such as “scordatura” – which is the intentional mistuning of the violin’s strings. These fine performances have an improvisatory and often whimsical character.
Simone Dinnerstein – piano/leader, Baroklyn, Jennifer Johnson Cano – mezzo-soprano, Peggy Pearson – oboe d’amore, Super Train STR075
Pianist Simone Dinnerstein first gained international recognition in 2007 with her self-produced, critically-acclaimed recording of the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach. Over the past few years she’s made music with a core group of string players – friends and longtime collaborators – and recently formed the ensemble Baroklyn with them, leading from the piano. The 2025 album COMPLICITE is the first recording for Baroklyn, and it focuses on music by Johann Sebastian Bach, with some input from Philip Lasser, who reimagined Bach’s beloved AIR ON THE G STRING. Playing music by Bach is one of Simone Dinnerstein’s superpowers, and if you love Bach, you NEED this album!
Ensemble Hesperi, BIS 2508
The period instrument group Ensemble Hesperi tapped into the 18th century interest in botany and the natural world. The group cited published correspondence by Georg Philipp Telemann to friends (including George Frideric Handel and Johann Gottlieb Graun), asking them to send him plant specimens. This charming program includes Sonatas by Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frideric Handel, Johann Gottlieb Graun, and James Oswald, who composed Floral Suites for the Seasons. Bring home this lovely bouquet of music!
Gottfried Von Der Goltz, Freiburger Barockorchester, Aparte Music AP405
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra takes you on a grand tour of music by 18th c. German composers including Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Caspar Fischer, Johann Christoph Pez, Johann Sigismund Kusser, and Johann Ludwig Bach. Compositions on the album include Johann Sigismund Kusser’s Ouverture, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Double Concerto for flute and violin. This top-tier ensemble provides context for some of the better-known music.
Peter Spissky, Camerata Øresund, Channel Classics CCS49325
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709–1758) was a composer, instrumentalist, and generous patron of the arts. This album includes charming music composed by Wilhelmine, as well as musicians from her inner circle: Pietro Antonio Locatelli, Johann Pfeiffer, and Bernhard Joachin Hagen. It’s performed by the Copenhagen-based early music ensemble Camerata Øresund.
Rolf Lislevand – archlute, ECM New Series 4878234
Norwegian lute virtuoso Rolf Lislevand explores 17th c. solos by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (aka Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger), Giovanni Paolo Foscarini, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and Diego Ortiz. Although this music is centuries-old, Lislevand uses his expertise in early music to deliver exciting performances that have a fresh and modern vibe. Over the years, Kapsberger’s lute music has reliably generated enthusiastic feedback from Sunday Baroque listeners, so this new release is an exciting opportunity to acquire this recently-recorded performance!
PASSING FANCY – BEAUTY IN A MOMENT OF CHAOS
Sonnambula, Avie AV2746
Sonnambula is a historically-informed ensemble that highlights unknown music for various combinations of viols and other early instruments. This is an album of small ensemble music by composers who faced pressure to hide their identity, or “pass” in some way, or who faced a variety of obstacles to their success, such as religion or gender. They include Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Leonara Duarte, Salomone Rossi, William Byrd, Richard Dering, and Alfonso Ferrabosco. The musical selections are uplifting and entertaining. We can all appreciate beauty in a moment of chaos!
TELEMANN: VIOLIN CONCERTOS, OVERTURE, SUITE FANTAISIE
Academie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernard Forck – violin/leader, Isabelle Faust – violin, Ute Hartwich – trumpet, Harmonia Mundi HMM902756
Georg Philipp Telemann was an extraordinarily prolific composer, and he especially relished showcasing the violin. Violinist Isabelle Faust and the Academie für Alte Musik Berlin give elegant performances of Telemann’s Ouverture-Suite for TWV 55:h4 B, Sonatafor trumpet, strings and continuo TWV 44:1, Concerto ‘The Frogs’for violin, strings and continuoTWV 51:A4, Suite for 2 violins ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ TWV 40:108, and Concerto for violin, trumpet, cello, strings and basso continuo TWV 53:D5, and more. Isabelle Faust is one of today’s leading violinists, and she uses an extraordinary Stradivarius violin crafted in 1704 and known as “The Sleeping Beauty.”
Les Kapsber’girls, Alpha Classics ALPHA1098
Les Kapsber’girls is a vocal and instrumental ensemble founded by lutenist Albane Imbs in 2015. VOX FEMINAE is the group’s third album, and it explores music by talented Baroque composers who were women, including Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), Lucia Quinciani (1566-1611), Francesca Caccini (1587-1641), Antonia Bembo (c.1643-1715), and Francesca Campana (c.1615-c.1665), interspersed with instrumental selections by the ensemble’s namesake, Giovanni Kapsberger.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
