Album: Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin, Music for the Berlin Court (Harmonia Mundi)

When Frederick II assumed the Prussian throne, his Berlin court became one of Europe's main centres of musical endeavour.

Here, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin offers a chance to experience what his chamber concerts might have been like, in period pieces by court composers, with one of more than 100 hundred of the king's flute sonatas. Johann Gottlieb Graun's "Concerto for Viola da Gamba concertate" is more satisfying than his "Overture and Allegro", while Christoph Nichelmann's "Concerto for Harpsichord concertate" (played on piano) showcases the complexity of his solo parts. C P E Bach's "Sinfonie No 1" is the standout, performed with gusto.

DOWNLOAD THIS Sinfonie No 1; Concerto for Harpsichord concertate