When Locatelli performed his concertos on tour in the 1720s, he probably played two at most on any given occasion. In relative isolation they impress listeners with their virtuosity, vigour and contrasting lyricism. Listening to 12 on the trot is not something I recommend, whoever the performer: much better to dip into this triple-CD, lest the array of technical wizardry becomes cliche.
Elizabeth Wallfisch clearly has a special affinity for Locatelli for she relishes the challenges posed by the composer virtuoso. Indeed she even named her trio after him. Locatelli's Arte del Violino (published in Amsterdam in 1733) was therefore an obvious choice to record and the Raglan Baroque Players, which she leads, the obvious orchestra with which to collaborate on the project. She also has the stamina required to plough through the miles of bariolage trills, double stops and slurred spiccato embodied in the unaccompanied cadenza-like capriccios that conclude the outer movements of each concerto at breakneck speed. Equally importantly, she has the warmth of personality to bring off the more individual inner movements infusing the Largo of No. 11 with a gipsy-ish sensuality and elsewhere with compelling rhetoric If inevitably, the treacherously high passagework is occasionally less than perfect (especially evident in the final capriccio of No. 11), it does not really diminish the sense of her remarkable command of technique and Affekt.
Locatelli's orchestral writing is limited to a narrower range of effects, most prominent among them repeated-note figuration (including ubiquitous pedals). His tendency to repeat every idea before proceeding onwards and his predictable dynamic contrasts eventually grate. The Raglan Players are very game, playing jauntily throughout, with lovely crisp bow strokes that Locatelli would have applauded, with only occasional patches of scrappy playing in the First and Seventh Concertos.'