Johann Adolf Hasse was an opera composer, associated with the glittering electoral court of Dresden in the middle of the eighteenth century. His instrumental works are few in number, and making a recording of them, on the evidence of this disc, is a bit like making one of the instrumental music of Bellini: they're pleasant, and they even show something of what made their composer noteworthy, but on the whole they're unremarkable. The concertos are in the three-movement mold of Vivaldi's, sometimes with a slow fourth movement at the beginning. One waits for one of Hasse's ornate, explosive operatic melodies to emerge when the solo part begins, but for the most part the flute reproduces the motives of the small ripieno group, throwing in some sprightly ornaments at the end (and it's not clear whether these are furnished by the soloists here or written into the score). The low-key mood is damped down still further by the
Hannoversche Hofkapelle instrumental ensemble, with its smooth but undifferentiated sound, and the various genres involved -- concerto, sonata, and trio -- don't emerge as distinct from one another. The most interesting work is actually the final Sinfonia in G major for two flutes, two violins, and continuo, not a sinfonia in the usual sense, and also not much differentiated in texture from the rest of the music. Here, however, the emphasis is on the rhythm, and the sequence of different triple-meter dances in the middle -- siciliano, minuet, and polonaise -- is arresting. The sound is clear, and the music is new to the repertory, which may recommend this disc for large collections of eighteenth century music, but it's not of much interest for the general listener.