Domenico Sarri numbered among the composers who enjoyed great success with their operas in Naples during the early eighteenth century, but gained renown throughout the rest of Europe principally with their sacred music. This CD features two wonderful works presented by the Sächsisches Vocalensemble under Matthias Jung.

Recorded in the summer of 2013, with an ensemble of seven musicians, 'Dolce Napoli' presents unique concertos and sonatas by amongst others Fiorenza, Rosa, Leo, Pullj and Mancini, including works only very recently rediscovered. The CD also premieres two copies of Italian Baroque recorders never heard in modern times, which were the focus of this project. Also unique is the use of three different pitches for the recording, accompanying the original pitches of the recorders utilized. In this way, the sonority of all the instruments used is varied in a 'pitch wave' that fluctuates in frequency.

Early 18th-century Naples was a flourishing centre for the production of sophisticated instrumental music – a diverse panorama characterized by an extraordinary variety of genres and forms. Naples prided itself on being an important school of repertoire for string instruments, emanating from the city’s conservatories, the foundries of famous masters and virtuoso students. The Neapolitan interest in string instruments was not only reserved to the violin – here represented by a Violin Concerto by Pergolesi –; great importance was also attached to the cello which in the course of the 17th century gradually became a solo instrument, emancipating itself from a mere “basso continuo instrument”.

The typical Neapolitan dessert «Babà» originated across the Alps in Poland and is therefore a perfect synonym for the musical treasures of Aloys Thomas Raimund Count Harrach. The count, initially a diplomat in the imperial service and ultimately viceroy of Naples, possessed an eclectic taste ranging from music from German states and Viennese pièces to Neapolitan concerti. Buon appetito!

The so-called 'Naples Manuscript' which is mentioned in the title of this disc is kept in the library of the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella in Naples, and bears the title Concerti di Flauto, Violini, Violetta e Basso, di Diversi Autori. The 24 compositions in the manuscript are chamber concertos for recorder, two violins and bc, with three of them containing a part for a viola.

For fans of Il Giardino Armonico's flamboyant flourishes and exuberant expressiveness, it's like having all your birthdays at once, being presented with this great Warner Classics 11 CD set. My own feeling is that this "free" approach to Baroque music is at its best when applied to the theatrical music of disc 8 or the seventeenth century Italian music on disc 1. The showmanship and playfulness is an absolute joy in many of those pieces. I'm less satisfied with the interpretations of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, (on discs 10 and 11), which require a different approach, I feel. I like my Bach to be a little more measured and subtle, I suppose. It has no need of the Il Giardino Armonico treatment. On the whole, though, I do love this set and wouldn't be without it.