Buried Treasure

Recorder player Dorothee Oberlinger introduces some of her favourite recordings

The Passion of Reason Sour Cream Attacca 9682-3

This is legendary for me, because you have three recorder legends in a trio together: Frans Brüggen, Kees Boeke and my former teacher Walter van Hauwe. It was a very important album for me when I started playing in Amsterdam in the 1990s. It’s very mystical, with ideas around symmetry and perfect contrapuntal art, but also emotion and passion. The sounds are unusual; it’s a bit of a trip.

JS Bach Air Ekseption Philips 873 003 UBY

Bach’s Air from the orchestral Suite in D major is obviously quite well known; for me it’s a symbol of eternity and of absolute music and perfect freedom in the universe. But this recording by the Dutch band Ekseption features Hammond organ and soprano saxophone! They added this walking bass line and the free improvisation of the soprano saxophone, which I like so much. Their version of the Air came out in 1969, the year of my birth, and I used to listen to it a lot. It’s very beautiful.

Purcell King Arthur – The Cold Song Klaus Nomi RCA PL 37556

I have a love for unusual voices, especially when the genders are not clear. Klaus Sperber (aka Klaus Nomi) was a German performer with a countertenor voice; he sang opera repertoire in the New York clubs during the 1980s, which was very unusual. This is a version of a piece from King Arthur by Purcell. It’s sung by a ghost, who is also a symbol for death, and it’s very programmatic and very mystic in this version. It’s something I’ve known for a very long time and I listen to it often. Dorothee Oberlinger’s Bach album ‘Dialoge’ is out now on DHM