Ensemble Marsyas - Zelenka Sonatas - Music Web International

The Harnoncourt recording contains an account of the Sonata in g minor, ZWV181/2 for two oboes, bassoon and continuo, so it's complementary to the new Linn which contains three other sonatas from that series. These works are witty, enjoyable, enterprising and challenging and they receive performances here at least as good as from Concentus Musicus, with the same blend of scholarship (pitch = 415Hz and Silbermann II temperament) and musicality that the older recording displays, together with the fruits of more modern scholarship.

Indeed, having been recorded at the York Early Music Festival, they seem to have captured some of the magic which surrounds that event. I hadn't encountered Ensemble Marsyas before. Their namesake challenged Apollo to a musical contest, which is pretty apt as an indication of the high calibre of their playing, but I hope that they don't share his fate of being flayed alive for his impertinence - not for nothing does Apollo's name derive from the Greek verb to destroy.

With excellent recording - I've listened to both the SACD and 24/96 download - and a booklet of notes that wouldn't shame even Hyperion, I have only one grumble. I refrained from complaining about the short playing time on the second CD when I reviewed the Accent recording of Zelenka's funeral music on the grounds that any fill-up would have seemed irrelevant, but that doesn't prevent my pointing out that 50 minutes on the new Linn recording is very short value when we could have been given more of the sonatas from ZWV181.