Having just counted 22 bassoon concertos by Vivaldi in my record collection I am chastened to find that not one of the six included in this new issue is among them. Many collectors, however, will know the Concerto in A minor, RV500 in its version, in the same key, for oboe and strings, RV463. I know few, if any, of Vivaldi's concertos for bassoon and strings which could possibly be classed as routine. A great many of them have notably attractive tuttis which lean towards the early classical idiom with their pronounced lyricism and sometimes expanded dimensions. Some, like the finale of the Concerto in F major, RV486, are characterized by lively, infectious rhythmic patterns. Who played these extraordinary ambitious works? Many of the movements require an advanced technique and the music can take its toll even from performers benefiting from the refinements of a modern bassoon.
Daniel Smith, the soloist on this new recording, is clearly an outstanding player but even he cannot get round some of the passages in the outer movements of the A minor Concerto, RV499, or those of the C major, RV466, for example. In fact, I wondered if, perhaps, an eighteenth-century instrument, for all its comparative simplicity, might not hold the solution to some of the problems evident here, though Daniel Smith defends his modern-instrument stance in ''News & Views'' on page 984. What bothered me rather more in these performances was the soloist's tendency to play under the note. It is not a consistently intrusive feature but it does become evident when he is coping with particularly difficult passages. Slow movements, on the other hand, reveal him as a lyrical player with a feeling for the shape and poetry of Vivaldi's phrases. The English Chamber Orchestra under Philip Ledger give crisp and lively support, though I liked neither the sound nor the close balance of the harpsichord.
In spite of evident shortcomings I found much to enjoy both in the music and in the lively approach to it. If the soloist had been able to correct some of his more impressionistic accounts of difficult passages the results would have been happier, but perhaps there will be greater opportunity for this in successive issues (this one is promisingly headed ''Volume One''). Good recorded sound, fine pressings, informative documentation and an evocative Guardi on the front cover contribute towards an interesting release. It's probably obligatory for Vivaldi librarians.'