Forgotten, or perhaps excluded, by the early histories of music, in recent years he has once again earned recognition as one of the foremost musicians of his age and the author of one of the most original, imaginative and interesting musical legacies.

Less familiar to most music-lovers is the musical legacy of the troubadour-king Don Denis of Portugal (1261-1325), whose long reign, spanning a period of 46 years, had a profound effect on Portuguese society. Grandson of the Spanish King Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise), he not only created at his court a perfect environment for the best Galaico-Portuguese troubadours of his day, but was also himself the author of a large collection of songs.

Continuing on our tour of European cities and their composers, we come to the German city of Dresden. Home to musicians such as Hasse and Zelenka, the city in which Bach perhaps aspired to a post, it was one of the leading European musical centres of the age, and even today the echoes and spirit of that past remain.

This issue also commemorates Mozart with a fascinating article on one of his most emblematic and controversial works in both the musical and the social sense. The Magic Flute is the opera into which the greatest number of meanings has been read and this is a new look at a work of genius.

We also feature three musicians in this issue of Goldberg Magazine. Claudio Cavina, the leader of La Venexiana, is currently coming to the end of his project of recording the complete Monteverdi madrigals; Carles Magraner, musical director of the Spanish ensemble Capella de Ministrers, and Alison Crum, who tells us about the ten discs she would choose to take to a desert island.

But that isn’t all! In this issue we have a new surprise for our subscribers - the opportunity to purchase at an exceptionally low price all the 5-Star CDs featured in the magazine. Just one more service that Goldberg now provides in response to our readers’ requests. The magazine and the CDs together, guaranteeing twice the enjoyment.