Ensemble Marsyas - Zelenka - The Observer

The trio sonatas for wind by the Dresden composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) were one of the great discoveries of our generation in baroque music, sumptuously recorded by Heinz Holliger and friends, dense in their argument and detail. Now here they are again, but with the perky sounds of original oboes and a burblingly virtuosic bassoon. The lively Ensemble Marsyas are joined by violinist Monica Huggett in the third of the set, full of literally breathless counterpoint, while at the end is a beguiling single slow movement that leaves us up in the air, as if I had finished this review with a question mark.