Baldetti Giuseppe Simulando S'impara

The concerto, such a familiar feature of the modern concert landscape, seems a simple thing in its opposition of individual and group. But its early history is not so simple; composers had to find structures that would support contrasts between one or more soloists and an orchestra. The "classic" Baroque concertos of Corelli actually represented a simplification of experiments carried out by earlier composers, the Bolognese Giuseppe Torelli central among them. Torelli is usually associated in Baroque listeners' minds with a few trumpet concertos, two of which (labeled sinfonias) are heard here. The short concertos for one or two violins (mostly six or seven minutes long, for three movements) are rarer but very attractive. They don't have the clean symmetries of the Vivaldian concerto, instead exploiting various ways of breaking up a movement into solo and tutti. Although short and essentially compact, each movement has an aspect of free imagination that is nicely brought out by the veteran English early music conductor and violinist Simon Standage, who joins with several other well-known soloists from Britain's historical-performance movement.

At the end of the 18th century, when Mozart went to Paris to develop, his biggest rival was Giuseppe Maria Cambini (1746-1825). The full extent of his musical charm can be seen through these elegant pieces in the album. Not only are symphonic concertos with oboe and bassoon as the main instruments very rare, but the music in the album are all recorded for the first time in the world, adding to the rarity and preciousness of the album.