The cleanest and often also the gentlest of violin-playing; Perlman, no stranger to large-scale concertos, adapts very readily to a style highly suitable for these smaller-scale ones. In his direction of the orchestra the same ready adaptability is in evidence: the strings are reduced in numbers to the point where in forte they can sound sometimes quite vividly alert without suddenly changing the scale of the music from that of an accompanied soloist, and in piano can allow through the colouring skills of a good harpsichordist. On occasion the harpsichordist is ready to do more than just colour the music: he is ready to fill a gap, as Vivaldi quite often intended, by contributing a melodic line. The slow movement of the A minor Concerto may be instanced. This is an enchanting movement (or perhaps more accurately, this can be an enchanting movement), with a gentle line for the solo violin, gently accompanied by a token orchestra and a correspondingly important harpsichord part. It does not by any means always go as well as it does here.
The recording is very good, with good balance throughout, save possibly as far as the basses are concerned: in tutti there is no trouble at all, but in an accompanying piano they do sometimes disclose their potential weight. Spacing, too, is good, with two complete concertos on each side of the disc. For a four-work representation of Vivaldi's astonishing output of solo violin concertos it would be very difficult to choose a better record than this.'