Michala Petri, George Malcolm - Italian Recorder Sonatas (1985)

Nicholas Anderson once expressed the opinion that the 'fashionable' view of Michala Petri as a technical marvel who plays like a puppet does her much less than justice, and I could not agree more. The view stems, I think, from her somewhat mechanical performances in the constricting setting of the family trio and does not reflect what she does when she is free from it. One of her in-concert lollipops is a seamless romp through Paganini's Moto perpetuo, achieved by circular breathing, and indeed her remarkable breath-control enables her to deliver unbroken phrases and lines of whatever length she chooses. In matters of articulation and bullseye intonation she is the mistress of all she purveys. Of the music itself only the spurious Vivaldi has another extant recording (played like this, one might even learn to love it), and Diogenio Bigaglia (1676-1745), whose instrumental output was small, makes his entrance into the catalogue with his engaging little sonata. The Corelli, originally for the violin, is authentic in that the arrangement for recorder was published shortly after the original version.
Michala Petri, unfailingly musical throughout, adds a little tasteful embellishment here and there in a programme that (Il pastor fido apart) offers much pleasure and rather more substance than a good deal of recorder fodder. George Malcolm is the ideal partner in all thise, fully supportive but never trying to steal limelight that doesn't belong to him, and as sparing in his use of tone colour (via registration) as he is effective. The LP sound could hardly be better and the balance is just right. What a very attractive record this is.'