With the King's Consort's splendid Hyperion recording of Pergolesi's Stabat mater still fresh in my memory, this heavy-handed, sentimentalized performance (with Gracis adopting slow tempos that sometimes force his singers to breathe in mid-phrase, or even mid-word) sounds far from stylish; and the two soloists, opulent and operatic of voice (Freni particularly vibrant) indulge in anachronistic portamentos and in general offer but little verbal subtlety. The first of the present three concerti grossi from Scarlatti's set of six published around 1740 (four years after the composition of the Pergolesi) differs from the others by including no concertino section: in all three the Naples strings clearly want no truck with period style, seeming intent only on producing the richest sonority, and shun even the most basic ornamentation. For authentic readings of Scarlatti, then, this disc from the orchestra bearing his name leaves much to be desired; but the string playing as such is excellent, and in the absence of any alternative recordings the present versions of such movements as the sombre Grave of No. 1, the tarantella of No. 3 and the unusually expressive initial fugue of No. 5 are well worth hearing.'