Vivaldi’s ‘Pisendel’ Sonatas? Well, we already have Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ Quartets, so it’s not too difficult to guess that these sonatas are a gift from one master to another. Johann Georg Pisendel, a brilliant young violinist from the Dresden court, visited Venice in 1716 and struck up a relationship with Vivaldi which combined friendship with informal study, as a result of which he was later to become an important carrier of the Vivaldian torch in northern Europe. Proof of the enduring connection is the presence in the Dresden archives of six violin concertos and five sonatas in Vivaldi’s own hand bearing the inscription ‘fatto per Ma[estro] Pisendel Del Viualdi’. Not just a gift, then, but a compliment as well.

This may well be the first time the sonatas have been offered as a set on disc, which makes it rather a pity that the booklet mis-assigns all the RV numbers. For the record, the actual order is RV19 in F, RV2 in C, RV29 in A, RV25 in G and RV6 in C minor. (I give you this information here because a quick internet search shows that these errors are already going viral.)

That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the music or the performances, however. The sonatas have a more recognisably Vivaldian cut and fire than the Corellian Op 2 Sonatas and show a pleasing variety of moods and styles. Annette Unger’s approach is accordingly more muscular than elegant but, although the very first track seems to presage heavy-handedness, she quickly settles down to a manner that is agile and easy-flowing, while not lacking in boldly projected articulation and detail. The continuo support is tight and spirited, and while a touch more dreaminess would be welcome in certain places, in general these pieces are convincingly brought to life.