The first surround sound recording of Zelenka’s five Capriccios. The complex scores have been brought to life under the direction of conductor Daniel Abraham, who also crafted this new edition of the works. This sonic masterpiece of the Baroque is presented using all period instruments including natural horn for the virtuosic horn lines.

Little is know about Jan Dismas Zelenka’s life as a composer working in the Catholic Court of Dresden. No memoirs or letters from Zelenka survive and only a few documents regarding his personal life have been discovered. The study and hearing of Zelenka’s music is central to understand his contributions. Only recently have scholars begun to examine Zelenka’s rich output and his place within the extremely colorful and imaginative school of Dresden’s musical Baroque. Recent research shows Zelenka’s music as representative of a pinnacle of high Baroque art and as demonstrating exceptional compositional technique, brilliant melodic inventiveness, and a shear uniqueness of style. His instrumental works, in particular, may rival or comfortably sit alongside those of his better-known European contemporaries: Telemann; Rameau; Handel; and J. S. Bach.