VIVALDI: Cello Concertos Vol. 1

City of London Sinfonia, Kraemer, Nicholas, Wallfisch, Raphael

8.550907

Vivaldi liked to write for instruments playing in the middle and lower register, favouring both the bassoon and cello (the latter a relatively new instrument in his time, having taken the place of the viola da gamba as a favoured solo instrument). Here are two highly recommendable recordings of Vivaldi’s ‘complete’ Cello Concerto; neither is quite complete, but if it is the 27 solo Concertos you are most concerned with, then Raphael Wallfisch offers them all, including the sole Double Cello Concerto, RV 531 (which Ofra Harnoy omits), and the Concerto for Cello and Bassoon, RV 409…

The Naxos series is part of a planned overall survey, and in the solo Concertos the choice of Raphael Wallfisch could hardly have been bettered. He forms an admirable partnership with the City of London Sinfonia, directed from the harpsichord or chamber organ by Nicholas Kraemer, so that, although not using period instruments, the effect is as authentic as you could want. Kraemer’s use of the organ continuo, both in tutti and to underpin the solo cello line (in RV 419, for instance), is most effective, while in Allegros the alert, resilient orchestral strings are a pleasure in themselves. Wallfisch plays with a restrained use of vibrato and a nicely judged expressive feeling, and in the Double Concerto (which he shares with Keith Harvey), there is much bustling interchange in the outer movements, with the soloists answering each other eloquently in the Largo.• Penguin Guide, January 2009

CD

7.02.1995

730099590723

Fanfare: 'Want List' (2012)