Five discs -- five conductors -- four orchestras -- nine composers -- 28 works: Decca's collection Ultimate Baroque is as one might imagine a mixed bag. The best of the set is
I Musici's sweet and fresh 1996 recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with Mariana Sirbu as the lighter-than-air and younger-than-springtime soloist and
Neville Marriner and the
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields' stately yet sprightly 1971 recording of Bach's four Suites for orchestra, and
Raymond Leppard and the
English Chamber Orchestra's robust and rambunctious 1970 and 1972 recordings of Handel's Water Music suites and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Less successful are
Karl Münchinger and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester's 1967 and 1978 recordings of a variety of eighteenth century hits. Too often, the Stuttgart's strings are weak; the long lines of the Pachelbel Canon and Bach's Air on the G string sag and the winds waver; the pair of flutes in Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze are simpering; and more often than not,
Münchinger's interpretations tend toward the sentimental. The tone of his Boccherini Minuet and his Hoffstetter (née, Haydn) Serenade is close to saccharine. More successful is
Eduardo Fernández's 1985 and 1987 recordings of guitar concertos by Vivaldi and
Giuliani plus a guitar sonata by Paganini. Accompanied by the alert
George Malcolm leading a perhaps too comfortable
English Chamber,
Fernández is a brilliant player whose performances are compromised by the bright but shallow early digital sound. In short, Ultimate Baroque is a good but not great way to become familiar with a wide swathe of Baroque music.