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The centrepiece is Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus, and the recording is also bookended by two concertos by the composer. Commercially it makes sense, but with no shortage of top-notch recordings of the psalm-setting, it seems a shame to retread musical ground when (as Potter shows us in tantalisingly small mouthfuls) there’s so much else to uncover. Potter’s Vivaldi is nicely sung, coloratura tidy if a little querulous at times. But it’s all fairly undifferentiated. Tempos, mood and articulation are mellow to a fault – even through something like the explosive opening to ‘Surgite’ – and La Festa Musicale find less of the detailed textural shading and characterisation here than we hear in the concertos and stand-alone instrumental movements. There’s little bite anywhere from the band (who match Potter’s rounded, warm tone), but there is a lovely fragile sheen to the Largo of the Concerto in G minor, as well as an attractive glow in the Introduzione from Caldara’s Gionata (even if battle-inspired rhythms and fanfares seem to ask for something more forceful). The Gionata movement is one of a variety of recording premieres, including two further instrumental sinfonias and instrumental episodes by Caldara (notably the melting, bittersweet opening from Le gelosie d’un amore utilmente crudele) and – most substantial – two sacred cantatas by Lotti: Sacri amoris aurae amate and Aurae lenes quae prata fovetis. The slow second aria from the latter, ‘Quaerit bene’, is a highlight, its graceful, languishing lines suiting both Potter and ensemble well. As a contemplation of martyrdom, however, it could have invited a less controlled performance. There’s nothing less than attractive here, but equally little that compels with any urgency. |
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