Among the catalog’s many scintillating period-instrument recordings of Vivaldi concertos, this release gets the “shock and awe” award. At first you’ll be shocked (well, at least stimulated) by the energetic tempos, aggressively crisp execution, and often brash timbral blends served up by Diego Fasolis’ tightly knit ensemble. But then you’ll be awestruck when you hear Maurice Steger toss off the G major concerto’s outer movements with atomic precision and insouciant defiance.
The seemingly simple unison dotted rhythms at the top of the “La notte” concerto’s opening Largo are executed with uncanny unanimity in regard to attack and release, while the D major “La Pastorella” fugal finale is so light on its feet that the clarity of the difficult-to-balance soloist/ensemble equation might go unnoticed. Even with minimal use of vibrato, the strings bring impressive variety in tone and expression to the E-flat concerto’s opening Allegro non molto. And for the ultimate fusion of virtuosic flair and stylish character, look no further than the D major RV 90’s scurrying finale, where Steger and his colleagues raise the bar for brisk, staggeringly articulated interaction. Vivaldi’s patented three-movement concerto model sometimes can sound formulaic and shopworn. Not on this disc, that’s for sure! A knockout, and beautifully engineered, too.
