Stefano Montanari (violin), Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord) L'Oiseau Lyre 478 2243 ***

The three concertos recorded here on period instruments are for keyboard (the Concerto in D, which Ottavio Dantone plays on harpsichord), violin (the Concerto in G), and violin and keyboard (the Concerto in F). Ottavio Dantone is liberal with embellishment and rubato, so much so that parts of the slow movement of the concerto for harpsichord actually sound maudlin. His approach is more tempered in partnership with violinist Stefano Montanari in the double concerto. The high point of the disc, however, is Montanari’s elegantly penetrating, interventionist account of the Violin Concerto in G. The recorded balances, by the way, won’t be to everyone’s taste, with the harpsichord allowed to sound as slight a presence as it often is in concertos heard in the concert hall. See url.ie/4w4k