Gaillard plays a cello made by Francesco Goffriller at Udine in 1737, an instrument of which she speaks lovingl; from it she extracts sounds both brilliant and subtle.
The range of instruments drawn on for the basso continuo on this recording might, I suppose, have allowed for inappropriate and distracting colour or for mere gimmickry. But there is none of either to be heard here. The balance and dialogue of soloist and continuo are well-nigh perfect throughout and the changes of instrumentation serve primarily to clarify transitions of mood. The use of plucked instruments such as guitar, guitar battente - the instrument strung with wire - and harp, behind/underneath the cello produces some lovely effects.
I have enjoyed this recording greatly. It has a properly Italianate spirit of measured flamboyance and a consistent vision of the music. It is played with acute intelligence – and plenty of feeling – and is beautifully recorded.

The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his music begins with the realization that, compared with Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch progressive. Though not as familiar as his concerti, Vivaldi's stage and choral music is still of value; his sometimes bouncy, sometimes lyrical Gloria in D major (1708) has remained a perennial favorite. His operas were widely performed in his own time.

For their second collection of Vivaldi’s sacred vocal music, Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante are joined by the outstanding Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi in three colourful motets and a large-scale setting of Psalm 112, “Laudate pueri Dominum”. The motets follow a specific pattern, with two arias, differing in mood and style, separated by a short recitative and completed by a fast, exultant Alleluia, demanding a brilliant and technically assured soloist; here RV 626, in particular, has an expressive power that recalls Vivaldi’s finest operatic music. The vigorous early setting of Laudate pueri was probably written for one of Vivaldi’s talented young pupils at the Ospedale della Pietà.