Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1715)
Concerto da Camera in B-flat, Op 6 No 11
Sonata a Quattro in G minor
Concerto da Camera in F, Op 6 No 12
Concerto da Chiesa in D, Op 6 No 4
Concerto da Chiesa in G minor, Op 6 No 8 ‘Fatto Per La Notte Di Natale’
Fuga a Quattro Voci
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Lute Concerto in D, RV425
Karl Nyhlin (lute)
New Dutch Academy/Simon Murphy
rec. 2003, the Vredenburg, Utrecht; 2016, Gothic Hall, Council of State, The Hague, Netherlands
ALTO ALC1473 [73]

Alto has licensed from the Pentatone label all the items on this new bargain issue to produce an attractive compilation of the best music, including the most famous of Corelli’s works, the Christmas Concerto, with the Vivaldi lute concerto as a bonus.

In his “Download News” back in 2012, Brian Wilson deemed this recording on its release in its first incarnation from Pentatone (PTC5186031) to be a worthy period instrument option, and in 2017 Johan van Veen praised the Vivaldi concerto as being “played with great sensitivity by Karl Nyhlin” in his review of the Pentatone “Grand Tour – Baroque Road Trip”.

I have hitherto recommended and been content with the 1992 recording of the twelve Concerti Grossi by Gennadi Cherkasov and the Moscow State Conservatory Chamber Orchestra on two CDs on the Audiophile Classics label, but that issue is hardly comparable in that it is complete, whereas this recording under review is just a selection of the concertos and includes other items; furthermore, the Moscow recording is on modern instrument in grander, more expansive – although not necessarily slower – style, whereas the New Dutch Academy is a period band and consequently scaled down.

There is nothing of the “historically informed extremist” style about their way with this music, however; it does not whine, phrases are not clipped and tempi are not rushed, yet it is still identifiably sympathetic to HIP practice. The lines of the solo instruments, consisting of anything between a single violin and two violins with a viol/violetta and a cello or a double bass, emerge very clearly yet are still tonally integrated within the strings and keyboard continuo playing. There are lots of lively, catchy dance rhythms accentuated by the strummings of a lute and harpsichord, those fast movements alternating with stately, sombre Adagios; especially beautiful is the Preludio to the Concerto da Camera Op 6, No 12. The Adagio third movement, too, is striking, its sequence of stuttering, hesitant chords reminiscent of “cold” or “ice and snow” music by such as Purcell, Vivaldi and Handel. Simon Murphy’s virtuosity comes to the fore in the scurrying introduction to the Concerto da Chiesa No 4 but all the instrumentalists here are most accomplished. They beef up their sound noticeably for the Christmas Concerto but the extra tonal weight does not obscure detail or put any drag on pace and articulation; the Allegro second movement is taken thrillingly fast before the two meltingly lyrical Adagios which sandwich another coruscating Allegro (track 20). The Fuga a Quattro Voci provides an interesting, more formal, academic contrast to the preceding music, the strong bass line being especially arresting, while the lute concerto is of course different again: it is one of Vivaldi’s most compact yet melodically memorable works, free of any formulaic “sewing machine” predictability, its two outer movements typically lively and given an appropriately energised performance, but the central Largo has a serene assurance about it. Director Simon Murphy and his soloist Karl Nyhlin are very free with rhythms and rubato but it all hangs together beautifully.

The sound is impeccable, the notes helpful and the selection of music ideal; in many ways, this is a wholly desirable collection of highlights. On the other hand, I must confess that subsequent listening has not endeared it further to me;  although I like the richly layered sonority, what I miss is the slightest hint of originality or inspiration; much of it is open to the damning accusation that it is “Baroque wallpaper music”.

Ralph Moore

Help us financially by purchasing from