Vivaldi: Flute Concertos, Vol. 2

“Collectors who like Vivaldi but are tired of The Four Seasons will be delighted with this second volume in Naxos's series of Vivaldi's Flute Concertos. Five pounds will buy these lovely performances by Hungarian flautist Bála Drahos and the Budapest-based Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia; highlights are La tempesta di mare (The Storm at Sea)-also known as a violin work-and Il gardellino (The Goldfinch).”

2010

“Vivaldi's flute concertos have certainly not been neglected on disc, and there's a wide choice of 'authentic' and middle-of-the-road versions played on both tranverse flute and recorder; this present selection is in the MOR vein and faces numerous competitors. In the flute concertos Béla Drahos is a superb soloist, as smooth as silk and agile as a kitten, and whose flights of fanciful embellishment might have won Vivaldi's approval. The Esterházy Sinfonia sounds a little beefy at times in its opening statements, but in the presence of the soloist its touch is appropriately light, and the third Largo ('Il sonno'), of Op 10 No 2, 'La notte', is impressively hushed. The outer movements of the bonus concerto, R441, dance on the lightest of feet; the work was originally written for the recorder, but on whichever instrument it's played, you wonder why it has no other currently listed recording. This present one would carry a warm recommendation even if it were not at bargain price.”