Europa Galante reviews

Emőke Baráth, Marie Lys (soprano), et al; Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi (Naïve)

Ewa Tracz, Matheus Pompeu, et al; Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi (NIFC)

If you thought Nigel Kennedy’s version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concertos outrageously liberal, then give ear to Fabio Biondi’s swaggeringly improvisatory account with Europa Galante, which also has the considerable advantages of Biondi’s impeccable ‘historically informed’ credentials and of including the other eight concertos in Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione. Not only is Biondi every bit as much the extrovert showman as Kennedy (and a real Italian to boot), his continuo players are of the same ilk, ever ready to add to the potent mix.