Fasch, whose dates are 1688-1758, spent 36 years as Court Kapellmeister in Zerbst, where he had a tremendous workload not unlike that imposed on J.S. Bach. The town became one of the foremost musical centers of North and Middle Germany due to his work. He composed 63 concertos, nearly all in the three-movement style of Vivaldi, who was popular in the Dresden area.
One of these six concertos is for violin while the others feature mostly woodwinds. The opening Concerto in D minor uses two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, strings and basso continuo, as does the closing Concerto in D Major. Fasch strengthened the concerto principle with more interaction between the soloists and the ripieno, as well as within the solo group. The 13-member il Gardellino ensemble has several other albums on Accent, including works of Graun, Telemann, Graupner, Marcello, Handel and Bach.
The album notes are well translated and the sonics provide a comfortable horseshoe-shaped soundstage. The harpsichord is well-balanced with the rest of the ensemble – neither smothered nor standing out too strongly as on some recordings. This was a very pleasant baroque music discovery for me.
– John Sunier
