On 2 March 1714, barely three weeks before his twenty-ninth birthday, the Weimar court organist Johann Sebastian Bach received "the title of Concertmaster." Shortly before he had turned down an important organist's position in Halle; the promotion to concertmaster, granted "at his most humble request," clearly represented a quid pro quo on the part of his employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. As the principal condition of his new post Bach had the obligation "to perform new pieces every month"—in today's parlance, to produce a new cantata on a monthly basis.

This is a beautiful CD. On it is a collection of some of Vivaldi' best concertos played on authentic instruments with light, transparent textures, brisk tempi and real excitement. An absolute delight!

This recording combines the lyrical and rhythmic vitality of early 20th century Brazilian and American popular music with Rifkin's thoughtful and artistic realization, in much the same way as his 1970's recordings of Joplin piano works did on the Nonesuch label. As with those recordings, the sound here is good and the performances excellent. Various different interpretations of Nazareth, Scott, and Lamb exist, and some might find the slower pace of Rifkin's ragtime playing eccentric, but I believe these performances to be subtle and truly musical, as opposed to surface and expected.

When Joshua Rifkin began recording Bach vocal works to demonstrate his one-singer-per-part thesis, he started not with the lightly scored early cantatas but rather with the Holy of Holies–the B-Minor Mass. (Don't accuse the man of starting small.) Predictably, outrage ensued: detractors far outnumbered supporters at the time (though this seems to be gradually changing). Musicology or not, Rifkin's approach works. Bach's florid vocal parts are far more negotiable for soloists than for chorus; period instruments never overwhelm the voices. Certainly the standard of baroque- instrument playing, particularly brass, has improved since 1980; but Rifkin's instrumentalists, especially woodwinds, are quite listenable.