Scarlatti: 12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso

Around the turn of the 18th century, Sinfonie in three movements were generally thought of as preludes to stir rowdy audiences into paying attention to the upcoming entertainment. These twelve works, although called Sinfonie, have either four or five short movements. Since they notionally feature solo instruments, they are more like concertos but they are not virtuoso display pieces so they do not fit that categorisation either. I Solisti di Milano's committed musicianship will be familiar to listeners who have followed their progress through much other, often neglected or hardly known Italian Baroque instrumental music on Newton Classics. They are led, as always, by their founding director Angelo Ephrikian (1913–1982), who did so much to bring back to public notice the works of Vivaldi in particular.