The "concertos" on this disc are of a special kind: they are so-called chamber concertos, for three or four solo instruments with continuo, but no orchestra. They're not overgrown trio sonatas; the group serves as its own orchestra, with individual players splitting off for solos. Flutist and annotator
Steven Zohn of the ensemble
Fioritura aptly states that "the overall effect may be likened to a kaleidoscope of instrumental colors and textures." It was Vivaldi, with a spatial imagination as inexhaustible as his melodic one, who popularized this format; most of the works on the album are his, with possibly Vivaldi-influenced examples from Telemann in Germany and Boismortier in France. The treatment of the solo element is slightly different in each case, with Vivaldi's little-known Concerto "Il Gardellino" in D major, RV 90, putting the flute at the forefront in a near-irresistible take on the bird-call idea (all three movements exploit it in different ways). Several concertos feature a recorder, one of them in place of the prescribed flute, and Venezuelan-born recorder player Aldo Abreu executes the rapid passagework in the Vivace finale of Telemann's Concerto in A minor, TWV 43a3, with aplomb. Vivaldi may have written his chamber concertos for his all-girl ensembles at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà orphanage, and the solo parts of the music here are often challenging. So too is the whole ensemble concept, with difficult period instruments in an exposed texture. The U.S. ensemble
Fioritura consistently surmounts balance problems and delivers performances with drive, lyricism, and flair. The music, miked close up in a Rochester, NY, church, is nicely recorded with a strong sense of immediacy; there is some instrument noise (clicking of keys, buzzing of wood), but no more than you'd hear in a live performance, which this recording strongly evokes. All in all, a highly enjoyable look at an obscure corner of the Baroque concerto repertory.