Michala Petri: 50th Birthday Concert (2009)

It seems hardly possible -- particularly to those fans who have followed Michala Petri since she first began to record with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields circa 1980 -- so much time has passed that Petri is celebrating her 50th birthday. There is something about Petri's choice of instrument, her bright, pristine tone and preciousness, that seems in a way eternally precocious and youthful, ever the ingénue. Nevertheless, the half century mark doesn't find Petri planning to receive AARP benefits; rather, she has ... Read More

It seems hardly possible -- particularly to those fans who have followed Michala Petri since she first began to record with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields circa 1980 -- so much time has passed that Petri is celebrating her 50th birthday. There is something about Petri's choice of instrument, her bright, pristine tone and preciousness, that seems in a way eternally precocious and youthful, ever the ingénue. Nevertheless, the half century mark doesn't find Petri planning to receive AARP benefits; rather, she has organized a concert to mark the occasion and recorded it for her OUR Recordings label, which she runs with husband Lars Hannibal. Petri is appearing with a group she is especially fond of, the KREMERata BALTICA orchestra founded in 1997 by violinist Gidon Kremer. From the standard Baroque literature for recorder, Petri picks the D minor Concerto, Op. 9/2, by Tomaso Albinoni -- which she recorded so winningly with Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti back in 1990 -- and the Vivaldi C... Read Less