Here is Vivaldi-playing with a commendably light, athletic touch. It is so easy to make a meal out of his orchestral tuttis yet these performances inspire the music with expressive delicacy and rhythmic vitality. The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, described by The Wall Street Journal as “America’s most exciting period instrument ensemble”, will be familiar to readers chiefly through their association with Nicholas McGegan’s Harmonia Mundi recordings of operas and oratorios by Handel. Appearances on disc in their own right are less frequent.
The programme is a colourful one of concertos for a variety of instruments, wind and strings, in various combinations. The two most often encountered pieces are the Concerto in A major per eco in lontano (RV552), a performance of which Vivaldi directed with his girls’ orchestra of the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice in 1740, and the Concerto in G minor per l’orchestra di Dresda (RV577). Much less frequently heard are three concertos featuring solo violin, two horns and two oboes, with one or two bassoons or, in the case of the Dresden copy of RV562, two organs. The Concerto in D minor for two oboes and strings (RV535) completes the picture.
Apart from occasional instances of predictable passagework, present above all in some of the wind writing, this music is engaging on many different levels. Slow movements such as the wonderfully free violin fantasy of RV562 reveal the exhilarating flights of fancy of which Vivaldi was capable, while the profusion of alluring inflexions present in fast and slow movements alike, makes strong appeal to the senses. Vivaldi was no stranger to the art of parody and, in the opening movement of RV568, we find him introducing sensuous, sighing quaver motifs present in the finale of the Concerto a due Cori per la Santissima Assenzione di Maria Vergine (RV535).
As I implied earlier, this kind of approach to Vivaldi’s music greatly enlivens and refreshes its innate character. A weakness in otherwise secure playing exists from time to time in the oboe department. Occasional entries, well below required pitch, are almost startling in their audacity, but they are occasional and should not put readers off otherwise enlightened performances which do Vivaldi’s music considerable justice. The disc is superbly recorded, allowing us to revel in every sonorous detail of solo and continuo playing alike. Strongly recommended.'