Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit, FLAC; Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 88985315592 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Still thriving, Bologna’s Accademia Filharmonica was opened in 1666: a magnet for aspiring composers and performers. This (appropriately) 66m selection of unfamiliar concertos and sinfonias spans from primarily vocal 17th-century composers – Colonna, Perti – to followers whose music was exclusively instrumental. Director Julia Schröder proves well able to meet the technical demands of the ornate decoration in the violin concertos, and while a lot of this music will only interest the specialist collector, works such as Zavateri’s ‘A tempesta di mare’ or the dramatic first section of Perti’s Sinfonia ‘Gesù al sepolcro’ are worth investigating. As are Laurenti’s four-movement Violin Concerto and the anonymous galant tribute to Bologna’s patron saint Petronius. Clean sound but unusually high transfer levels. CB

Sound Quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

Boldly recorded, and at a far higher peak level than is typical with classical fare, this also offsets the slightly higher-than-average noise levels. Violin harmonics radiate out to 40kHz, making full use of this 96kHz recording’s bandwidth. PM