_I Musici Vivaldi Edition

For several decades beginning in the 1950's I Musici was the leading ensemble specializing in Italian Baroque music, and their performances were standard-setting in their time. Their recordings still hold up exceptionally well even though approaches to early music, driven by the period instrument revolution, have changed somewhat since then.

These recordings by I Musici, with soloists Salavatore Accardo (violin) and Heinz Holliger (oboe) display both attributes in spades. The recordings were made in 1975. While maybe not displaying the same cutting-edge tempi as the most recent competition (Federico Guglielmo and Il Arte Dell'Arco in the new Brilliant Classics Vivaldi edition) they are still very very good. If you see this set for sale I wouldn't hesitate to grab it.

The artistry of Holliger (b1939) prompted Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli) to call him 'The Paganini of the oboe' Holliger's mastery of the oboe ranges over a vast expanse of repertoire, from the baroque to contemporary – Bach to Berio and Zelenka to Zimmermann. His style is notable for its flexibility, agility, integrity and ability to communicate convincingly across the wide range of repertoire he performs. Holliger has done much to champion the oboe music of composers such as Zelenka and Krommer, and has also had over 100 works composed for him by composers including Berio, Carter, Henze, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Penderecki and Stockhausen.

Sixty years have passed since 12 young graduates, mainly from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, got together to give voice to their passion. Thus was born a rarity of its time, a chamber group without a conductor. This apparent lack could have been their Achilles heel when the great Toscanini heard them, but their enthusiasm brought out the strong and affectionate words: "Bravi, bravis- simi…(very good, excellent) music wont die! … from him. Time has passed quickly, yet the sound that travelled these decades still lights up the eyes of those who were participants in this extraordinary cavalcade as if it had lasted only a moment.

This album is released in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the composer Giovanni Pergolesi. I Musici performs compositional works by Francesco Geminiani, Giovanni Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi and Francesco Durante. I Musici was formed in 1952 by twelve young and promising Italian musicians, mainly Roman and mostly graduates of the at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. They chose the simple, yet nice name I Musici and they deliberately decided to shape the ensemble without a conductor.

A limited-edition 55-CD set of legendary and critically acclaimed recordings celebrating the famous PHILIPS heritage.An alliance of great artistry and superb sound. Classic-status albums spanning over half a century of recording and showcasing a wealth of international talent.An unrivaled collection that that embraces all musical genres - from solo piano and chamber music through to large scale choral works and opera. Music that spans more than two centuries of masterworks from Bach Concertos and Schubert Lieder to twentieth-century masterpieces by Stravinsky, Bartok and beyond.

London Baroque offers another installment in its ongoing European Trio Sonata series, this time devoted to 18th-century Italy; as with the ensemble’s previous efforts the program features generally excellent performances of lesser-known repertoire. Ten years ago I reviewed a similar 18th-century Italian program by this same group titled “Stravaganze Napoletane”, also on BIS, and was generally impressed with the performances–except for one piece: Domenico Gallo’s Sonata No. 1 in G major.

A celebration of instrumental Baroque splendour! This set present an anthology of Italian Baroque composers, featuring their instrumental output. Obviously the famous composers have their fair share: Vivaldi, Albinoni, Locatelli, Corelli, but also lesser known composers are featured: Barsanti, Bassani, Veracini, Nardini, Stradella, Vitali, Mancini, Platti, Legrenze and many more, over 30 composers! Performances by leading ensembles specialized in the Historically Informed Performance Practice: L'Arte dell'Arco/Federico Guglielmo, Ensemble Cordia/Stefano Veggetti, Violini Capricciosi/Igor Ruhadze, MusicaAmphion/Pieter Jan Belder and many more. A treasure trove of solo concertos, concerti grossi, sinfonias, overtures, trio sonatas and solo sonatas from the Golden Era of the Italian Baroque, era of joy, passion and brilliance!