Everyone gets a turn in Vivaldi’s concerto world – well nearly everyone. The total number of musicians employed on this recording is 28, of whom 23 are credited as soloists. The instruments they play in four of Vivaldi’s concertos ‘con molti strumenti’ range from violin to bassoon, from theorbo to chalumeau and from oboe to harpsichord, taking in the odd mandolin, recorder, viola all’inglese and violin in tromba marina along the way, most of them heard in pairs. Composed for the young ladies of Venice’s Ospiedale della Pietà (where Vivaldi taught) the concertos would have made excellent vehicles for their famously varied performing skills, but they were also highly popular in that centre of Vivaldi enthusiasm, the Electoral court at Dresden – RV576 is even dedicated to the Prince Elector of Saxony. Emphasising the link further, Europa Galante have also recorded the Violin Concerto RV319 in a version found in a Dresden manuscript in which, typically, oboes and a bassoon have been added. Only the two dainty mandolin concertos on this disc seem to have led wholly Venetian lives.

By now we know exactly what to expect from Fabio Biondi – the unexpected. Here we get all the stops and starts, swoops and darts, vigorous off-beat accents and moments of crazy articulation that he has made his trademark, but anticipating where they will come is practically impossible. What his thinking is is anybody’s guess. Biondi seems to see these colourful concertos as his own personal playground, one in which he is going to have everybody playing by his own rules, however baffling they may be. Few games could be more enjoyable, however, and I found myself laughing out loud with pleasure at some of the surprises he sprung on me; the end of RV558’s slow movement, nearly had me jumping out of my skin. The standard of performance is also high from all concerned, and if there is the odd occasion when a soloist struggles to keep up with the play, Biondi’s wacky ideas rarely upset the orchestra’s vigorous strength of purpose. This is exhilaratingly dangerous musicmaking, and it pays off.