Georg Muffat’s highly evocative suites and concertos are a concentrate of what (good) baroque music is all about: basic tunes developed with handy counterpoint, lively rhythms, a touch of melancholy, and some unexpected instrumental effects here and there. Actually, most of these works were written for strings alone, but Muffat specifically asked for more instruments if they were available. The Austrian Armonico Tributo ensemble, named after the composer’s most famous group of works, opts for a rich instrumentarium in addition to the strings: oboes, bassoon, recorder, theorbo, harpsichord or organ, and percussion. The percussionist is particularly at feast with some funny timpani and gun parts in the “Les Gendarmes” episode from the Indissolubilis Amititia (Indissoluble Friendship) suite. Muffat’s strange Latin titling goes on with a “Centennial” suite (Saeculum), a “Lucky Star” Chaconne (Ciacona Propitia Sydera), a “Who is there?” (Quis hic?) concerto and a more common “Imperial Coronation” (Coronatio Augusta) suite. The beautiful Chaconne retains a noble gravity closer to the French style than to the Italian one. Nevertheless, Corelli’s own concerti grossi probably inspired the very original “Quis hic?” suite, though no one other than Muffat could imagine those expressive rests in the Grave movement. Conducted by viola da gamba virtuoso Lorenz Duftschmid, Armonico Tributo plays with accurate ensemble and beautiful tone. After a while, the constant bellows-like phrasings can provoke some dizziness, but the performers have enough qualities otherwise to compensate for this mannerism. The sound recording is as spacious as it is velvety.
