Though regulated by no Grand Plan, the recording of Vivaldi's with-wind chamber works on Compact Disc progresses apace so let us take stock. Twenty-two works (RV87–108) are listed by Ryom as ''concertos for several different instruments with basso continuo'', one (RV93), with no wind instrument, is unsuited to the above ensembles. Seventeen of the remaining 21 are contained within the recordings by Petri/Holliger et al (PH) on Philips, and the London Harpsichord Ensemble (LHE) on Unicorn-Kanchana, with a few overlaps easily identified by consulting the earlier reviews. Ryom also lists five ''sonatas for two different instruments'' (RV82–86), two of which (RV84 and 86) are apt to all three groups and PH include the latter in their two-disc set.

Every item in the programme of Cologne Camerata (CC) is covered by the other recordings, both of high quality, but it is not simply a matter of 'counting noses'; PH and the LHE use modern instruments but CC use period ones, sounding about one semitone lower and giving a softer sound, emphasized by the more backward placing of the harpsichord and its replacement by a chamber organ (which the others do not use) in RV87. The three groups resolve the recurring question as to what flauto means (traverse flute or recorder?) in different ways; PH use only the latter (Michala Petri), the LHE only the former (Graham Mayger), and CC alternate the two for variety (Karl Kaiser and Michael Schneider respectively).

This is wholly friendly music, laced with occasional humour and for the most part constructed from the simplest of materials, leaving the door open to a little enhancement; the invitation is accepted by players in all three bands perhaps most frequently and effectively by those of CC—all these trimmings are probably prepared in advance, but Michala Petri's sound the most rehearsed and least 'spontaneous'. Cologne Camerata, playing with irrepressible spirit and laudable precision, have been excellently recorded in what is described as ''Vol. 1'', the booklet refers to ''Vol. 2'' whetting the appetite for further diverting deiights. Those who still baulk at the thought of 'authentic' performances will not be disappointed by the 'comparative' versions.

-- John Duarte, Gramophone [2/1990]