Italian 17th-century violin music seems to be a bit of a growth area on CD at the moment, and quite right too. This is where we can see the violin first finding its feet as a solo instrument capable of a wide range of expression and virtuoso fireworks, so it is no surprise that baroque violinists should be rushing to perform the music of such exuberant composers as Marini, Uccellini and Pandolfi. Perhaps no single work sums up the experimental feel of this repertoire more than the much-recorded Capriccio stravagante by Carlo Farina, a composer we would probably have forgotten today had he not written this vividly protean 18-minute ensemble piece cataloguing a variety of weird violinistic effects and onomatopeic imitations. Europa Galante chooses it to open its recital, which also includes a battle piece by Uccellini and a sonata by Falconieri which seems to be a character portrait of an unruly child. It is not all fun and games, however. Interspersed with these are more sober compositions by Legrenzi, Vitali, Salamone Rossi, and a dignified passacaglia written in old age by Marini.
As one of the most successful and exciting of Italian baroque string groups, Europa Galante ought, on the face of it, to be the ideal group for such music, and indeed its playing is its usual confident and technically secure self. There is energy in the fast movements, nobility in the slow, and, as always under Fabio Biondi, much attention to interpretative detail. It is all deeply felt, yet somehow there seems this time to be something missing. Coming from a group who like to use vibrato, the sound is surprisingly cold and uninviting, and one rarely feels swept up by the wackier pieces as much as one might anticipate. Perhaps a combination of the recording process and the meticulous nature of Biondi's music-making has this time edged out the vital spark of spontaneity this music requires. Having heard a tape of them performing it in concert, I know they have it in them.
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