Neville Marriner: The First Recordings - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (2 CDs)

The partnership of Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is possibly the most recorded of all partnerships in recorded classical music. This collection brings together three of their very first recordings: ‘A Recital’, ‘A Second Recital’ and ‘Italian Concertos’, the three LPs receiving their first complete release on CD. The first two were called ‘Recitals’ in the manner of concert programs, mixing concerti grossi with solo concertos, with the Academy’s principals as soloists. Crispness of ensemble, stylish delivery, flexible and febrile performances, and rich-toned recordings were their hallmarks. This pioneering 2CD set was issued in celebration of the Academy’s 50th anniversary and these recordings form part of a series of Marriner reissues on Eloquence.

‘When a British ensemble records a program like this, it sticks its neck out in no uncertain manner. Consciously or unconsciously it challenges every chamber orchestra from Aachen to Zagreb … Here is nearly an hour’s music, played with precision, care, consummate musicianship, and with more sense of style than all the chamber orchestras in Europe put together … Neville Marriner and his Academy are to be congratulated on a magnificent disc debut, and I have no hesitation in declaring this to be one of the three or four most outstanding items in the L’Oiseau-Lyre catalogue’ (‘A Recital’: Corelli, Torelli, Locatelli, Albicastro, Handel) Gramophone

‘There is nothing anonymous about this playing; it positively tingles with life’ (‘A Second Recital’: Manfredini, Albinoni, Avison, Handel, Telemann) Gramophone

CD 1
CORELLI: Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6 No. 7
TORELLI: Concerto Musicale in D minor, Op. 6 No. 10
LOCATELLI: Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 1 No. 9
ALBICASTRO: Concerto No. 6 in F major
HANDEL: Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6 No. 6
MANFREDINI: Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 3 No. 10
ALBINONI: Concerto a5 in A minor, Op. 5 No. 5
CHERUBINI: Etude No. 2 for horn and strings
Barry Tuckwell, horn

CD 2
AVISON: Concerto Grosso in A major, Op. 9 No. 11
HANDEL: Concerto Grosso in G major, Op. 6 No. 1
TELEMANN: Concerto in F major (Tafelmusik – Set II)
VIVALDI: Cello Concerto in C minor, RV 401
GEMINIANI: Concerto Grosso in E minor, Op. 3 No. 3
BELLINI: Oboe Concerto in E flat major (Roger Lord, oboe)
CORELLI: Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6 No. 1

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner