Giuseppe Valentini Ensemble 415 Banchini Concerti Grossi e a Quattro Violini, Op. 7 (2007, Zig Zag # Zzt2020801)

Most listeners to 18th century music in the modern era are well familiar with JS Bach, perhaps his sons Karl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhem Friedemann, and Johann Christian, certainly Handel, Vivaldi, and Scarlatti, and perhaps Purcell. In the last 30 years we are fortunate to have been given access through CD recordings to similar music from the enormous host of contemporaries of these masters of the Baroque, and it is constantly astonishing how high the quality of the written music was throughout the 18th century. Surely there were mediocre or perhaps poor composers, but the sheer number of really good ones continues to amaze.

Andrew Manze is not only a superb violinist – check out his Biber sonatas – but also a superb music director. Since taking over the calcified old Academy of Ancient Music and bringing the group with him to Harmonia Mundi, he has produced a stunning series of recordings: a couple of Vivaldi discs, a wonderful set of Handel's Opus 6 concertos, a sublime disc of the Bach concertos. Now they have released Geminiani's Concerto Grossi after Corelli's Op. 5, and it is their best yet.

This disc of Vivaldi concertos celebrates ten years of the French label Zig-Zag Territoires. The fulsome paean contained in the booklet, sometimes flowery in its prose, sometimes fanciful in its content – ‘Long may our CDs continue to stir this life force within you!’ etc. – may not win new friends, but the playing of Ensemble 415 certainly should. Director and founder of the group, Chiara Banchini has chosen the four Concertos for four violins from Vivaldi’s first and most varied printed sets, L’estro armonico (1711), as well as two further works that, along with the greater number of his concertos remained unpublished during Vivaldi’s lifetime, a Concerto in F major for three violins (RV 551) and in B flat for four (RV 553).

The first six sonatas, or the sonate da chiesa as they are commonly referred to, were published in Geminiani’s arrangements in 1726 and met with immediate success. Not only were the sonorities amplified by the instrumental expansion, but Corelli’s difficult-to-play sonatas were now within reach of violinists with more modest abilities. The skill with which Geminiani embellished Corelli’s music while remaining true to Corelli is immediately evident when Corelli and Geminiani are played back-to-back. It is roughly the aural equivalent of a black and white photo now viewed in color. Geminiani’s arrangements of the second set of six sonatas, the sonate da camera, were soon completed but did not meet with the same immediate popularity.

Chiara Banchini plays a sweet-toned Amati from 1651, predating Tartini (1692-1770) himself. His mercurial style seems ideally attuned to the ebb and flow of the music: largos are wistful and sad, allegros darting and fanciful with the florid ornamentation tossed off like birdsong. The carefully inflected performances of Ensemble 415 make plain the "affetti" (state of emotions) that inform Tartini's work. The Italian violin virtuoso made frequent use of poetry to inspire his composing, sometimes even recording the affecting epigram in the score.

Immensely popular during his time and maintaining their appeal today, Corelli's 12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 6, are among the gold standard for the form. They are divided into two sections, one being six concerti da camera and the other being six concerti da chiesa. The informatively written liner notes for this Harmonia Mundi album describe the potentially immense orchestra (for the time) that Corelli may have employed for his performances; this recording, however, uses more modest numbers, taking into account the different needs for the "da Camera" and "da Chiesa" concerti. French-based Ensemble 415 (which takes its name from a common Baroque tuning frequency) is led by its founder, violinist Chiara Banchini.

When one speaks today of the history of the Italian solo concert, one thinks first of Bologna (Torelli, Corelli) and Venice (Albinoni, Vivaldi). It is sometimes overlooked that important impulses for the further development of the genre also emanated from Naples. In addition, cellists in particular owe a lot to the Neapolitans, which this CD aims to clarify. The best known are probably the six concertos by Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) with their light, sometimes gallant tone; of them the A major concerto is represented here along with four individual works by Nicola Fiorenza (died 1764), Nicola Porpora (1686–1768) and Nicola Sabatino (approx. 1705-1796).

Giovanni Bononcini (1670-1747) was a gifted cellist and a rival of Handel's; he wrote more than 30 operas and 300 cantatas. I approached this "serenata a tre" with trepidation, fearing something coy and intermezzo-like; in fact, it's simply beautiful. The not-riveting plot concerns soprano nymph Cloris' refusal of love for countertenor shepherd Tirsi, and her subsequent turnaround. Baritone Fileno, a satyr, loves her but convinces her that love is cruel because he is jealous of her love for Tirsi. In the end, Fileno vows vengeance and departs, and the lovers unite, praising fidelity and love. Bononcini manages to capture truly felt moments of love, anger, warmth, happiness, and heartbreak with minimal forces–just a few strings, all played stunningly (as usual) by Ensemble 415–and fine melodies.

Handel's unrivaled masterpieces of the concerto grosso form and style–his Twelve Grand Concertos, in seven parts, for four violins, a tenor, a violoncello, with a thorough-bass for the harpsichord–here receive their finest recording to date, with performances that leave all others–both period- and modern-instrument versions–in their wake. For obvious reasons these 12 concertos have remained popular since their publication in 1740: the irresistibly congenial tunes and engaging rhythms, the free-spirited fugues, endearing Largos and Adagios, and overall vivacious writing for all instruments elicits correspondingly high-spirited responses from anyone within earshot of these unrelentingly entertaining works.