Corelli: Concerti Grossi Op.6

Keep the good work!

Overly present chamber organ and lute. Thin string tone by comparison

I cherish these two disks. The performance of this music by the Brandenburg Consort led by Roy Goodman is simply wonderful. The playing is full of energy, ease, and a wonderful, well, self-belief and commitment to the music. None of the, "Well, this is just Corelli after all" we get from some others. Here, everything is given over to getting everything out of the music, and there is a lot of fun, enjoyment, and beauty to be had.By the time Corelli died at sixty years of age in Rome, he had achieved world wide fame and respect. He had a tremendous impact on the development of violin technique including the playing of double stops and chords as well as they way violinists used the bow in their playing. While the concerto grosso form existed before him, it was he who put the form on the map, so to speak. His concerti were widely imitated (although the Opus 6 here was not printed in his lifetime - remember there were no meaningful copyrights in those days) and next generation composers such as Handel wrote sets of concerti in homage and imitation (for Handel, these were his Opus 3 concerti).Corelli's complete known works comprise only six opus numbers, although these are all collections of works. Again, his influence and importance go far beyond this seemingly small output. However, these twelve concerti and simply wonderful. Some of the tunes you will already know, but you will be amply rewarded for your attention to all these works.The first eight do not contain dance movements because they are ostensibly for the chapel. However, they are quite bright and energetic and full of movement. Nine through twelve do contain standard dance suite movements, but for all intents and purposes are not any more full of dance than the first eight. However, they do follow more strictly the formal strictures of the dance names given to the movements.What a wonderful set that I am delighted remains in print.I recommend this set with my strongest recommendation and encourage you to enjoy these disks over and over again.

These were my first Concerti Grossi on CD. I have, at last count, about 5 different versions. I really thought the Harmonia Mundi set with Ensemble 415 would supplant this one, but it is not recorded well, and sounds very muddy. I love the new version of Op. 6 selections with THE NEW DUTCH ACADEMY - they are glorious, but NOT a complete recording of Op. 6.This version has become my "go to" standard: so beautifully performed and recorded. I love the large sound of this version and the NEW DUTCH group - as these concerti were performed with very large (for the day) forces on grand occaisions. One wishes a group known as "L'aura Soave" from Italy who are on YouTube would record these. I highly recommend these, and heartily second the previous reviewer's accolades.

Excellent recording of enjoyable Baroque works

Très belle version, avec une superbe image sonore, colorée, équilibrée et analytique. On entend nettement les théorbes qui soutiennent la basse continue et apportent une belle couleur à l'orchestre. Le jeu est très dynamique avec des tempi très variés, comme le veut cette musique. J'en viens à préférer cette version, plus fine, à celle de Chiara Bianchini, longtemps restée pour moi la meilleure.