Vivaldi: Concerto for Violin "Il Grosso Mogul" in D major RV 208

“a lively celebration of Benedetti's Italian roots, shot through with some laser-sharp pyrotechnics, and brave work-in-progress as she squares up to period style with a modern instrument...Benedetti's 'Baroque' occasionally sounds like 'Kreisler with attitude'; the accent may not be pitch-perfect, but for sheer flair: Viva Italia!” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 ****

“This is the best recording of Vivaldi's 'Summer' I've heard...at precisely 2.19 Benedetti performs a trill in which she only partially depresses the string, allowing a rainbow of stratospheric harmonics to colour the trill...Great recordings are made of tiny moments of unexpected brilliance like this” Classic FM Magazine, 2010 edition *****

“With a Baroque-type bow, using very little vibrato (but with modern strings), she produces a sound that, for the most part, is cool and clear but by no means inexpressive. The SCO match her elegant phrasing and provide an accompaniment that's alert, spirited and sensitive. It conveys a brightly polished image of the music, most enjoyable, and bringing a virtuoso aspect to the fore.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“The most blissful performances here are the pair of Vivaldi arias transcribed for violin to take the vocal lines, which are elegant. Elsewhere, Veracini's "Largo" is treated with calm passion” The Independent, 7th October 2011 ***

“She hasn’t plunged into the field on a whim. She took lessons from Rachel Podger, the goddess of the Baroque violin. For colleagues she cross-fertilised, mixing the period specialist conductor Christian Curnyn with the bouncy non-specialist Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She also chose her repertory cannily...Throughout the disc Benedetti’s playing marries incisive Baroque attack with fuzzier romantic colouring.” The Times, 30th September 2011 ***

“Mullova teams up with one of the most sparkling of the baroque bands around.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2007

“Viktoria Mullova isn't quite a Baroque violinist – her Strad is fitted with gut strings, she's using a Baroque bow and she plays very stylishly – but there's something about her sound that betrays the modern virtuoso. Her vibrato is modest but it's used in a way that harks back to her conventional Russian training. Much more important than rating her on a scale of authenticity, however, is to note that it's top-class violin playing: the rhythms are lively and poised, all the passagework is beautifully clear and exact.
The programme is excellent, too, in the way it shows the wide range of Vivaldi's imagination.
The rarely encountered RV187 is a lovely piece, full of delightful original touches, in contrast to the better known Grosso Mogul which, despite its brilliance and its satisfying formal design, is oppressively short of significant ideas.
Il Giardino Armonico provide an immensely spirited accompaniment, four members taking the extra solo roles in Op 3 No 10 with great style. Vivaldi's music needs strong contrasts in performance; it should create a sense of amazement, which these accounts supply in a striking and convincing way. The prevalence of ferocious accents, ultra-short off-the-string bowing, and exaggerated dynamic shading is a little troubling: the strongest, swiftest bow stroke should retain the character of a gesture, rather than a hammer blow. But whether or not you agree, you're likely to enjoy the vigour, colourful variety and sheer expertise of these performances.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This was definitely one of the top discs this month. The ABO always gets good reviews in these pages, which reflects the consistently high levels of performance. Here they showcase the talents of several of their players…in the company of some top performers (Libby Wallfisch is stunning in Il grosso mogul). The CD also includes something of a novelty – a re-working by one of the ABO’s cellists of Vivaldi’s concerto for two violins as a concerto for violin and cello…Another triumph for Paul Dyer and his team.” Brian Clark, Early Music Review

“Enrico Onofri is a player of dazzling virtuosity, whose intonation seldom falters and whose imaginative responses to some of Vivaldi's most poetic utterances thrilled and touched me.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 ****

“Enrico Onofri writes that 'when subjected to a profound, subtle and precise reading of the rhetorical formulas that compose them, [Vivaldi's] concertos stand revealed as extremely impassioned works, by turns gently melancholic, impetuous, ironic, dramatic, caricatural, introspective, voluptuous, violent, tender, graceful.' All these characteristics are depicted in Onofri's intensely rhetorical playing. Occasionally he likes to introduce mischievous (perhaps even anarchic) elements into Academia Montis Regalis's performances, as if to insist that we must not regard this music as mere fashionable wallpaper music. The relentlessly tempestuous Concerto RV234, L'inquietudine, is not stuff that corporations will use for holding callers on the telephone.
Onofri's rapid flourishes in the extensive cadenza that concludes the Grosso Mogul Concerto, RV208, are not only phenomenal from a technical point of view but delivered in such a convincing way that every single note seems to matter. Amid the thwacks and snaps in fast tuttis one wonders if elegance might be an authentic Vivaldian characteristic in danger of becoming overlooked, although there is much more to these performances than shock tactics. Among the finest elements of this kaleidoscopic disc are the quieter slower movements: eloquence, grief, tranquillity and desire all seem to be worn on Onofri's sleeve. The Adagio in Concerto RV270, Il riposo, is breathtakingly beautiful; La caccia is unusually provocative, rewarding and frequently amazing.
Academia Montis Regalis present Vivaldi's concertos as totally compelling and meaningful music that demands full attention and respect.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Onofri's rapid flourishes in the extensive cadenza that concludes the Grosso Mogul Concerto, RV208, are not only phenomenal from a technical point of view but delivered in such a convincing way that every single note seems to matter. Among the finest elements of this kaleidoscopic disc are the quieter slower movements: eloquence, grief, tranquillity and desire all seem to be worn on Onofri's sleeve. The Adagio in Concerto RV270, Il riposo, is breathtakingly beautiful; La caccia is unusually provocative, rewarding and frequently amazing.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2006