London Musici, Mark Stephenson - Vivaldi: Mandolin Concertos, Violin Concertos, Flute Concertos (1992)

This well-balanced programme of Vivaldi concertos should have a wide appeal. Five of the seven works have descriptive or at least evocative subtitles; those without a picturesque mode of appellation are the concertos for one and two mandolins, slight pieces but which nevertheless unfailingly beguile the senses. Nigel Woodhouse and Sue Mossop bring as much expression to the music as their instruments allow, only occasionally failing to move in step where required in the Double Concerto. Tuttis in the finale, too, are a little ragged, but this playing has character and vitality to enliven the performances.
The soloist in the flute concertos is Kenneth Smith. He has chosen two works from Vivaldi's set of six published in about 1728 as the composer's Op. 10. One of them in D major—not G major, by the way, as indicated on the box and booklet—is Il gardellino (''The goldfinch''), the other, in G minor, the atmospheric La notte. Smith plays a modern flute and possesses a pleasing warm, rounded tone. He gives a lyrical account of the lovely Siciliano of Il gardellino tastefully ornamenting the repeated halves of this binary movement. Intonation is excellent and the string tuttis are more sharply focused and better disciplined than in the two-mandolin Concerto.
The two violin concertos are drawn from Vivaldi's Op. 8, the set which contains the Four Seasons. The first, in E flat, is subtitled La tempesta di mare, the second Il piacere (''Pleasure''). The soloist is Lyn Fletcher who brings detail and plenty of light and shade to Vivaldi's often virtuosic writing. There is nothing aggressive in her approach and nothing of the empty showman either. The works make a pleasing contrast side by side, each conforming, broadly speaking, to the general spirit of its subtitle. Intonation is secure and vibrato is kept under strict supervision.
One piece remains, the vernal miniature Alla rustica Concerto. I have retained the strongest affection for this piece since I first heard it played by the Virtuosi di Roma in the Royal Festival Hall in 1957; and the pleasure was doubtless intensified by the fact that I had excused myself from school prep in order to attend what was in those comparatively far-off days a baroque musical event as thrilling as it was rare. In this recording the opening movement is a shade too fast for comfort and it does not sound entirely settled. This is, however, an entertaining programme affectionately played and well constructed. Clear and effective recorded sound.
–Nicholas Anderson