Vivaldi - Recorder Concertos

Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble
Dan Laurin: recorder

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 255 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 76 mb
Scans @ 300dpi = 19 mb

Total playing time: 54:32

Recorded: 1991-06-21/13, Västerled Church, Stockholm, Sweden

Released: 1993, BIS CD-635

Track listing:
1. Concerto in C minor RV441, 1. Allegro non molto
2. Concerto in C minor RV441, 2. Largo
3. Concerto in C minor RV441, 3. Allegro
4. Concerto in C major RV444, 1. Allegro non molto
5. Concerto in C major RV444, 2. Largo
6. Concerto in C major RV444, 3. Allegro molto
7. Concerto in F major RV433, La tempesta di mare, 1. Allegro
8. Concerto in F major RV433, La tempesta di mare, 2. Largo
9. Concerto in F major RV433, La tempesta di mare, 3. Presto
10. Concerto in C major RV443, 1. Allegro
11. Concerto in C major RV443, 2. Largo
12. Concerto in C major RV443, 3. Allegro molto
13. Concerto in F major RV434, 1. Allegro ma non tanto
14. Concerto in F major RV434, 2. Largo e cantabile
15. Concerto in F major RV434, 3. Allegro
16. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 1. Largo
17. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 2. Presto, Fantasmi
18. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 3. Largo
19. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 4. Presto
20. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 5. Largo, Il Sonno
21. Concerto in G minor RV439, La notte, 6. Allegro

Reviews:
Musicweb
There are precedents for playing these popular concertos on the recorder, which often shared the common name ‘flute’ with the traverso (or what we might now call a baroque flute) for which they were written. Indeed, this soloist and the Drottningholm players probably come closer to a ‘historically informed’ performance than the large string sections and Boehm flutes, usually heard until recently in these concertos. Nevertheless, the ‘cool’, penetrating sound and higher fundamental pitch of the recorder, even when so well-played, as it is on this record, is less responsive to subtle inflections than a traverso, especially in slow movements.

Dan Laurin easily establishes his virtuoso credentials in the first (C minor) concerto, but as the performance progresses its shortcomings appear: relentlessly fast tempi that occasionally find the ensemble at odds with the soloist and obscures some of the finer detail in these delightful works. The dominance of the solo line, even in ripieno passages, sacrifices some of Vivaldi’s masterly touches (in for example La Notte) for superficial brilliance.

It is, however, difficult not to admire the commitment and sheer ebullience of the players. Their sense of ease and enjoyment in the intricacies of Italian Baroque ornamentation alone makes this disc a desirable extra for anyone who already possesses a more authentic version. Full marks for chutzpah, and the example that Dan Laurin provides of the expressive potential of the recorder.

Gramophone
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