"Recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi, who comes from a Swiss-Indian family, has selected four concertos from Antonio Vivaldi’s extensive catalog of works. Makhdoomi is accompanied by his ensemble Piccante, which he founded in 2018.
The recorder player not only enhances Vivaldi’s expressive diversity but also approaches these oft-recorded compositions with a fascinating, highly personal and sometimes joyfully excited idiosyncratic artistry.
Makhdoomi meets the technical demands with precision and polish, but it is evident first and foremost that he reads, hears and feels something deeply personal in the music, both in the frenzied arpeggios and in the slow movements. From the very first piece, he turns Vivaldi’s ornate music into real events with subtle changes in articulation and rhythmic drive. With this rhetoric, the soloist succeeds in delivering a riveting performance rather than simply a fetching mechanical exercise.
Two arias stand out after each of two concertos. The first, Sovente il sole, is sung by Arnaud Gluck; the second, Vidro con mio diletto, is heard in an arrangement for recorder in which Makhdoomi impressively displays the lyrical qualities of his playing."
