Vivaldi’s 40 or so violin sonatas have never been as popular in recordings as his concertos, and there seems no reason to suppose they ever will be. This recording of his complete Op 2 is one of only a handful currently in the catalogue, and, amazingly, it appears to be the first on period instruments – a strange situation in these baroque-hungry days. Coolness towards the sonatas is undoubtedly due in part to the fact that they are not as recognisably Vivaldian as the concertos, Op 2, in particular showing a heavy debt to the elegant and balanced musical manner of Corelli. Certainly there are few hints of the mercurial invention of the Op 3 concertos that were to follow not long afterwards (Op 2 was published in 1709, Op 3 in 1711). Only in the odd fiery movement such as the Preludio a capriccio presto of Sonata No 2, or an occasional lyrically poised slow movement, such as the Adagio of Sonata No 3, do we seem to glimpse the hand of the Red Priest at work (tune-spotters may also enjoy an unmistakable foretaste of the ‘Domine Deus’ from the Gloria in the Third Sonata’s Preludio). This is not to say that this music has no character of its own; while it may well be hard to guess Vivaldi as its composer, in the end it could not truly be mistaken for the work of Corelli either. And it is certainly well written and attractive.
Walter Reiter is a name familiar from numerous personnel lists of period orchestras, but less so as a chamber musician, and this is his first recording with his own group, Cordaria. He shows himself to be a stylish, no-nonsense player, who in slower movements mixes a clean, often sweetly singing line with tasteful ornamentation which refuses to draw undue attention to itself, and who in faster ones shows real virtuosity and fire. Occasionally his intonation is a little uncomfortable, but this is generally compensated for by his overall musicality. His continuo colleagues provide fine support, Shalev Ad-El proving an inventive but sensitive harpsichord accompanist, and Katherine Sharman obviously enjoying the chance to partake in melodic dialogue when it comes her way. In short, these are intelligent but natural accounts of unfairly neglected music, in which any points the players are out to make are about the music and not themselves.'