Concerto Koln

“Something new every moment.” If we are to believe Shunske Sato, leader of Concerto Koln and soloist on this sparkling new release of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” what is at the heart of this recording is the idea of freedom. Freedom, too, in more ways than one. True to the principles of historical performance practice, the ensemble delivers the vitality of spontaneous playing in Vivaldi’s music.

Francesco Durante - Concerti Nos. 1-5 & 8
Concerto Köln / Werner Ehrhardt
PS3 SACD ISO (2.0/5.1): 3,41 GB | 24B/88,2kHz FLAC (2.0): 1,09 GB | Full Artwork: 90 MB | Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Capriccio 71 074 | Country/Year: Germany 2006 | Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

…It is great that this recording by Concerto Köln is available again. As far as I know it was the very first recording of any of Durante's concertos on disc, and although some concertos from the set have occasionally been played in concert - in particular No. 8 - Durante's music is still barely explored. It is hard to imagine a better performance than that by Concerto Köln…

One of the benefits of the current “catalog-dumping” trend from major record labels these days is the gathering together of sets such as [this one], offering a trove of music that otherwise would be difficult or impossible to assemble from individual recordings, and many of which are no longer available singly. The 6-CD collection from Concerto Köln is the best overall, comprising some of the finest orchestral works from 18th-century Europe not written by Bach, Haydn, or Mozart, and celebrating the spirit and expressive capabilities and character of a smaller-sized, conductor-less instrumental ensemble. These composers—Dall’Abaco, Kozeluch, Eberl, for instance—deserve to be better-, make that well-known. And there’s no doubt that if there had not been a Haydn or Mozart, we’d be (justifiably) listening to, and marveling at, a lot more Johann Vanhal today—if you don’t know this contemporary of both of those great masters, you owe it to yourself to get acquainted. The Concerto Köln is a premier advocate for all of this repertoire, and having all of it in one economical box is ideal.

– David Vernier

Re-released on Capriccio this month is a disc of Italian Concertos performed by the Concerto Köln. Alongside masterpieces by Vivaldi and Pergolesi, this 2 CD set contains some rarities of Neapolitan composers such as Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo.

One of the benefits of the current “catalog-dumping” trend from major record labels these days is the gathering together of sets such as [this one], offering a trove of music that otherwise would be difficult or impossible to assemble from individual recordings, and many of which are no longer available singly. The 6-CD collection from Concerto Köln is the best overall, comprising some of the finest orchestral works from 18th-century Europe not written by Bach, Haydn, or Mozart, and celebrating the spirit and expressive capabilities and character of a smaller-sized, conductor-less instrumental ensemble…

– David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com