Pyrotechnia

– Fire & Fury from 18th-century Italy Concertos by Vivaldi, Tartini & Locatelli

The Illyria Consort/

Bojan i i (violin)

Delphian DCD 34249 72:52 mins

Vivaldi took the notion of what the virtuosic violin concerto might be to new heights; and it was he who cultivated the idea of the extended show-stopping cadenza. Taking this as his starting point, Bojan i i pits himself against four virtuoso concertos from the Italian golden age, and pairs two by the ‘Red Priest’ with one each by the 20-yearsyounger Tartini and Locatelli. Three are in the dazzlingly bright key of D, while Tartini ratchets up a tone to E major, so have ‘aural sunglasses’ at the ready to counteract the glare. Reconstructed by Olivier Fourés, Vivaldi’s concerto ‘per Signora Anna Maria’ is a premiere recording.

As leader of The Academy of Ancient Music (and director of the Illyria Consort), i i scarcely needs to prove his credentials through the medium of the virtuosic solo. The recording, instead, traces the impact of the capriccio-cadenza on the concerto form, and its evolution from shortish burst to the finale of Locatelli’s Op. 3 No. 12 (which, at 15 minutes, outlasts either of the Vivaldi concertos in their entirety – albeit with a lot of grandstanding gamely shouldered by the unflappable i i ). In truth though, all three composers at times coast on compositional autopilot; and the ‘fire and fury’ of the disc’s title proves a hostage to fortune when, as in the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto RV205, there’s a sense of something being held back, the excitement contained. That said, the extravagantly ornamented Largo is delectably poised and ethereal, whilst i i makes characteristically light work of the scintillating capriccio repurposed from RV774. Paul Riley PERFORMANCE ★★★★

RECORDING ★★★★