For listeners restricted to Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), the cello sonatas will come as a jolting surprise. Vivaldi crafted lace-like slow opening and third movements resembling very little the pyrotechnics displayed in his many violin pieces. This is most apparent in the minor-key sonatas (Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9). Melancholy is not the description for these slow movements; thoughtful faith may be better. Vivaldi slows the listener down for some hands-on-knees considerationt. Sonata No. 5 in e minor’s third, slow movement is reflectively beautiful and quite unlike the Vivaldi most are familiar with. This is not the Vivaldi of L'estro Armonico. The faster movements retain this reflective mood, yet will sound much more familiar to the casual Vivaldi listener.
There are precious few complete collections of these cello pieces. Only one other collection appears available: the very fine David Watkin/Helen Gough Hyperion recording, originally released in 1995. The edge the Gaillard release has is basically technological. Recent improvements in capturing period instruments have vastly improved the “sonics” of such recordings. The harsh, acerbic tone of earlier period instrument recordings has been softened, improving the “warmth” to perfection, making them preferable to previously released collections. The second advantage of the Gaillard performances over the Watkin/Gough sonatas is the two-disc package containing one CD/DVD with video of Gaillard and her Pulcinella in action.
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