Anna Torge / Mayumi Hirasaki / Il cantino MANDOLINO E VIOLINO IN ITALIA

The Italian composers of the Baroque, led by Antonio Vivaldi, often honoured the small instruments of the lute family in their rich compositional oeuvres. At the time these instruments with a fourth-third tuning were known by various names, for example, as the leuto, leutino, mandola, or mandolla. Today the small lute is uniformly termed the 'Baroque mandolin' and more rarely the 'soprano lute'. The number of composers who wrote attractive works for the mandolin documents the fact that it was then a much-played instrument that musical audiences liked to hear. Accordingly, this new recording brings together concertos, trios, and sonatas by Carlo Arrigoni, Johann Adolf Hasse, Ranieri Capponi, and – of course – Vivaldi. What is particularly surprising here is the homogeneous sound of the dialogue between the Baroque mandolin and the Baroque violin – since they are two very different instruments in the field of tonal production. The tonal beauty of both solo parts, with one duo partner supporting the other with accompanying broken chords, produces a captivating effect in the second movement of Vivaldi's Concerto RV 548. Anna Torge is one of the leading virtuosos of the Baroque mandolin.

Giuliano Carmignola / Concerto Köln BACH Violin Concertos

Giuliano Carmignola, we’re informed on the back of this CD’s case, ‘seeks to cast fresh light upon these much-loved masterpieces by imbuing them with all the joyfulness of his Venetian sound’. You could say this is as much a warning as it is a USP: if you like your Bach monumental and solemn, Carmingnola’s folky exuberance and springy bow may feel like too much of his personality foisted on the music. But with an open mind, it’s impossible not to enjoy this disc. It achieves exactly what it proudly sets out to, eagerly assisted by the twinkle-toed Concerto Köln.

It includes the two ubiquitous violin concertos (A minor and E major), the double concerto in D minor (with Carmignola well matched by Mayumi Hirasaki, stepping up from within the ensemble), plus two convincing new reconstructions of concertos which, though probably originally written for violin, survive only in harpsichord concerto versions (the G minor BWV 1056 and D minor BWV 1052). At over 70 minutes of music, it goes a fair way towards justifying its premium price.

If it is the fast movements which show off Carmignola’s pizzazz, he also has plenty of sweetly lyrical qualities to bring in the Largos and Adagios – the merest smidge of vibrato at the ends of long notes, everything else achieved by subtle phrase shaping and that nimble bowing arm. (Kimon Daltas, editor of Classical Music magazine)