A sizzlingly expressive account

Amandine Beyer (director)

Gli Incogniti Zigzag ZZT327

These live performances have a thrilling spontaneity that sets them apart

ne of the reasons for the extraordinary popularity of Corelli’s Concerti grossi lies in their protean quality: you can jettison theparts and play these works as intimate trios, or you can scale them up – as we know the composer himself did on special occasions. His contemporary Georg Muffat describes Corelli performing his Concerti grossi in Rome ‘by a large number of players’; wind instruments – trumpets and trombones – were added for special feast days or celebrations. Today, therefore, there are recordings to suit all tastes: from intimate, chamber accounts to performances that take on an almost symphonic scale, like Modo Antiquo’s – complete with wind instruments – or Ensemble 415’s grandiose readings (both versions sadly let down by their recorded sound). When building a library, then, one would ideally select three or four different approaches in order to appreciate the endless possibilities of these works.