Avison: Twelve Concertos Op.6 - The Avison Ensemble, Beznosiuk

Charles Avison
Twelve Concertos Op.6
The Avison Ensemble, Pavlo Beznosiuk
Naxos 8.557553-54

Avison’s ability to pattern his works on the music of others stood him in good stead throughout his career While he was a fine musical craftsman, his own creative powers seem to be more limited. His concertos are skillfully fashioned, have plenty of vitality and show perceptive use of dynamic contrast; but the music itself, finely wrought as it is, displays no special melodic individuality or any unconventional features. Played as vibrantly and freshly as it is here, on period instruments by this expert ensemble from Avison’s own city, and led by the excellent violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk, one cannot help but respond to the vitality of the writing, even if these concertos are not in the same league as the similar works by Corelli or Handel.

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010