VIVALDI: SUONATE DA CAMERA, OP

The performances of these beautifully crafted pieces are more appealing than any previous ones that I have heard. At first glance, this looks like the concluding volume of a complete recording of Vivaldi’s Op. 1. But, as Michael Talbot points out in a characteristically interesting and informative note, the stronger works are concentrated within the second half of the set. Among them is the best known of the Trios from the collection, the 20 variations on the theme of Spanish origin, La follia. Only recently I reported favourably on performances of Vivaldi and Tartini by the ensemble L’Arte dell’Arco (Dynamic, 10/97 and 11/97 respectively). The period-instrument group was founded in 1994 and has so far focused its attention on Venetian music, both familiar and less familiar. As I remarked in the previous reviews, the instruments are tuned fractionally higher than today’s concert pitch, rather than the lower A=415, around which most current period-instrument groups prefer to hover.