Daorsa Dervishi baroque flute, Alessia Travaglini gamba/cello, Nicola Bisooti harpsichord
112:46 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)
Brilliant Classics 96397
The story of this partially-sighted English composer is indeed a remarkable one. In spite of his blindness, or perhaps because of it, he used his remarkable musical memory to be able to perform and direct even complex scores after one hearing. Himself an accomplished organist, he composed voluntaries and concertos for the instrument, spanning the period between the high Baroque style of Handel, with whom he worked extensively, and the Galant style exemplified in London by the music of J C Bach. The eight flute sonatas of his opus 1 and the six sonatas of his opus 4, all of which are recorded here, demonstrate an enormous debt to his mentor Handel, but at the same time express an individual talent and facility with the instrument which should not be overlooked. Anybody who could make a living in the cut-throat musical world of 18th-century London deserves respect, and in these fine performances by Albanian Baroque flautist Daorsa Dervishi and her superb continuo team we hear the considerable charm and musical imagination in these works. Dervishi’s stunning technique and fine declamatory style on her Rottenburgh/Tutz flute are complemented by a warm tone and beautifully clear articulation. These are very enjoyable CDs which will surely also redirect listeners to Stanley’s other music, and the disappointment that of the wealth of music he presumably wrote when in later life he succeeded William Boyce as Master of the Chapel Royal hardly anything survives.
D. James Ross