The five basic recorder concertos of Vivaldi have been gathered together by others, but only Peter Holtslag, with The Parley of Instruments on Hyperion ((CD) CDA66328, 8/89), has boosted the modest playing time by adding the chamber concerto RV108; if I do not make a sustained comparison with the present recording it is because Holtslag et al use period instruments (at lower pitch) where Petri et al do not (nor did she in her earlier Philips recordings of RV443 and 444). As a virtuoso Michala Petri is in a class of her own, with the various recorders entirely at her mercy, but for some time she lacked flexibility (not least when playing with others of lesser calibre) and there was often too little to divert the ear from the shrillness of her piping on the higher members of fipple-flute family. Now times have changed, and she with them: the thin musical substance of many movements in these works is fleshed out by the imaginativeness she brings to them, and her sound seems to have mellowed a little. One of the things that distinguish her playing from that of others in this field is the sureness of her pitch—like that of a 'blown keyboard', and particularly with long notes; where others (including Holtslag) end them with downward curves Petri keeps their lines horizontal. If she knows something they do not know, she should not keep it a secret.
I wish I could be as enthusiastic about I Solisti Veneti, who, as early as track 1, seem 'photosensitive', shy of letting light into their phrases by taking the bows off, or stopping them on their strings; the reverberant acoustic exacerbates the effect. At times, too, they lag a few sluggish micro- seconds behind Petri's beat. The continuo is agreeably varied by the use of both harpsichord and chamber organ (but not at the same time!), lute and, in RV108, an unnamed bassoonist. Petri is utterly beguiling but I wish she were in more stylistically alert company—and when will she come to terms with recorders at baroque pitch? If both those 'prayers' were answered, we really might have something to treasure.'