COMPOSERS: Boccherini
LABELS: Opus
WORKS: Sinfonia in C, Op. 37/1; Sinfonia in D minor, Op. 37/3; Sinfonia in A, Op. 37/4
PERFORMER: Academia Montis Regalis/Luigi Mangiocavallo
CATALOGUE NO: 111 OPS 30-168
These three symphonies seem at first prodigal with ideas invented and then abandoned. But steep yourself for a while in their fresh, direct simplicity, and mature Mozart becomes intellectually taxing, late Haydn overly grandiose. Boccherini creates textures and colours with the sure hand of a chamber-musician. The first minuet opens with horns momentarily alone; its trio sets solo bassoon and flute first in witty dialogue, then in spacious duet. Unison oboe and solo viola are unexpectedly elegiac in the final Andante, oboe/bassoon octaves dark in the preceding minuet.
High horns in the A major Symphony penetrate the small string forces rather assertively. Otherwise, the recorded sound is excellent, as is the technical fluency of this fine period orchestra. George Pratt