Veracini: 5 Ouvertures - Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel

Francesco Maria Veracini
5 Ouvertures
Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel
Archiv 439 937-2

Veracini's music is little known, but the neglect is as unjustified as the traditional unfavourable comparison with Vivaldi. Something of the particularity of his performing manner was noticed during Veracini's lifetime by the English historian Charles Burney, who once remarked that "by travelling all over Europe he formed a style of playing peculiar to himself". The same might be said of his composing, which far from being simply an assimilation of contemporary modes speaks with a sharply individual voice that constantly surprises with its freshness and originality.

The players of Cologne Musica Antigua have latterly become persuasive advocates for some of the darker corners of the Italian concerto repertory that lie between the twin poles of Corelli and Vivaldi, and they approach Veracini with all the passion and vitality that have characterized some of their finest recordings of this repertory. As usual they use either period instruments or modern copies, and Reinhard Goebel's informed and committed direction teases out all the subtlety of Veracini's rich and varied textures. String tone is attractively alive and has been carefully varied to underscore all the variety of sound and timbre in the writing. In short, these are authoritative and commanding performances of bold if at times quirky music that no enthusiastic connoisseur of the period can afford to miss. Outstanding.

N.A., Gramophone Magazine