Search - Antonio Vivaldi, Janet See, Stephen Schultz :: Antonio Vivaldi: Flute Concertos; Concertos Pour Flute

Magnificent and Delightful

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 06/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Antonio Vivaldi (1678 ? 1741): Flute Concertos RV 427, 438, 440, 533 (for two flutes), 428 (?Il Gardellino?), 436 and 429. Janet See, Stephen Schultz, baroque flutes.

Recorder Concertos RV 433 (La Tempesta di Mare?), 441, 443, 104 (?La Notte?, original recorder version), 434, 444, 435. Marion Verbruggen, recorders; Dennis Godburn, bassoon. The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco, conducted by Nicholas McGegan.

Recorded March, 1987, at Lone Mountain College Chapel, San Francisco (flute concertos) and September, 1990, at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, California (recorder concertos).

Harmonia Mundi HMX 2907340.41 (reissue of HMU 905193 and HMU 907040. Total time: 2 hrs 0?23?.



This is what I wrote about the original issue of the flute concertos:

I can only confirm what others before me have written: This must surely be one of the finest Vivaldi recordings of all time! Both the playing and the recording technique (it sounds suspiciously as though Harmonia Mundi was still using analogue equipment in 1987 because there is some slight "pre-echoing" to be heard) are absolutely magnificent. In particular, Janet See's delightful and highly musical formation of the flute solo lines on her mellow, woody baroque instrument is a treat for the ears, but it shouldn't prevent one from enjoying the full-blooded, energetic orchestral sound that Nicholas McGegan coaxes from his West Coast original instrument orchestra as though this music had been written specially for them. Incidentally, all the pieces here were written by Vivaldi with the transverse flute in mind, and I found it particularly pleasant to hear them played as they were intended on not on some form of recorder .(The "birdsong" Gardellino concerto does actually exist in another version for recorder.) Full marks to all involved here: I am writing 19 years after the recording was made, but I have yet to discover a disc of this material that could outdo the San Francisco offering.



As for the recorder concertos, again I feel that there is plenty of room for congratulations. Marion Verbruggen plays as delightfully and assuredly as anyone could ask, and the West Coast original instrument ensemble (8 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, double bass, bassoon, archlute, harpsichord and chamber organ) sounds, under the able leadership of Nicholas McGegan, the equal of any European early music orchestra. Special praise for the decision to vary the recorders used: only two of the seven concerti are played on a sopranino, and these are kept well away from one another ? thus avoiding the rather tiresome effect that this high-pitched instrument can have when used too frequently. In this respect there must surely also be praise for engineer Anthony Faulkner, who has got the balance absolutely right: No overly close-up recorder here, but rather a natural, easy-on-the-ear sound that seems to reflect ideally the positioning of the musicians while playing and avoids the ?nervousness? of, for example, Peter Holman?s Vivaldi recorder issue for Hyperion. And of course, as one has come to expect with McGegan, the continuo is wonderful ? not only his own harpsichord, but also the chamber organ played by John Butt (listen in especially to the last concerto on the disc, RV 435; the organ provides some delightful coloring!). As this set is now available at a bargain price, fans of McGegan and of Vivaldi should not hesitate. And as all the concertos on these two discs are extremely tuneful and popular (i. e. very easy to follow), this is also a recommendation for schoolteachers and others who want to play Vivaldi to students or friends and get them interested!

"