Tartini: Concerti by Ensemble 415

Chiara Banchini, Enrico Gatti, and Roel Dieltiens perform concertos by Giuseppe Tartini.

Tartini was a composer of the late Italian baroque. Imagine if Vivaldi had smoked some of the same pipes as Mozart. We’d have nice even phrase lengths, melodies over invention, and clearly defined moments of tutti vs. solo passages. Yet, somehow, it would all be Italiante, and more Baroque.

This CD features the ensemble Ensemble 415, and I found the recorded sound to work against the ensemble and soloists. It features concerti grossi, violin concertos, a cello concerto, and more of the same. Good variety, for sure, but the sound of the ensemble was thin and at times sounded ever so slightly mistuned. I imagine the sound is rather authentic… yet, the polish was somehow missing from the big picture.

My favorite movement is track 10, the final (fourth) movement of the cello concerto, complete with brass and an organ continuo. This is where I discovered Roel Dieltiens, who would impress me so with his own records of Vivaldi concertos with Ensemble Explorations.

The interpretations here are not all that bad. The players do embody drama in their playing, and there is some music to enjoy. I just wish the recording did them better justice. Any other shortcomings belong to Tartini. He’s an entertaining composer, but never really was that imbued with genius.