Vivaldi: Violin Concertos, Vol. 1 (1992)

This recording and the others in the series it inaugurates have already appeared several times: first on the U.S. MusicMasters label, then on Nimbus, and here on the venerable Musical Heritage Society imprint; Musical Heritage is apparently presenting "choice selections," although it's hard to figure out what the selection criteria were. These are more than competent Vivaldi performances, but it's a little hard to figure out why they've had such staying power. Perhaps it's because they represent very smooth takes on the old ... Read More

This recording and the others in the series it inaugurates have already appeared several times: first on the U.S. MusicMasters label, then on Nimbus, and here on the venerable Musical Heritage Society imprint; Musical Heritage is apparently presenting "choice selections," although it's hard to figure out what the selection criteria were. These are more than competent Vivaldi performances, but it's a little hard to figure out why they've had such staying power. Perhaps it's because they represent very smooth takes on the old way of playing Vivaldi, and Mintz is the ideal player to execute such a project. His exquisitely sustained, pure tone is perfectly suited to Vivaldi's sparse slow movements, and the original engineers manipulated the fine sonics of the Metz Arsenal concert hall in order to place him seemingly right in front of the microphone. Conducting the Israel Chamber Orchestra from his violin, Mintz creates readings that contain nothing extraneous and puts the focus squarely on his own... Read Less