The 17-member chamber orchestra plays without conductor and imbues these Baroque selections with a verve and burnished tone that sounds fresh and new. The musical...

The 17-member chamber orchestra plays without conductor and imbues these Baroque selections with a verve and burnished tone that sounds fresh and new. The musical sound effects and tone-painting of both the Biber battle piece and Boccherini?s Night in the Madrid Streets are the sort of thing not usually heard in early music and they add considerable interest to the program. The string tone is excellent; I believe this ensemble uses standard violins instead of Baroque versions. The recorder used was a refurbished Telefunken M5, so vintage that it was an original mono recorder with a second circuit level bolted onto it to create a stereo machine. A Neumann M49 vacuum tube mike dating from 1949 was used. A fine effort with plenty of both musical and technical interest. John Sunier