Barnes & Noble

Following up on a superb disc of Luigi Boccherini's string quintets, violinist Fabio Biondi and the intrepid musicians of Europa Galante turn to the composer's quintets for strings and guitar. The two quintets included on this album are actually transcriptions of quintets originally intended by Boccherini for strings alone, yet how perfectly the guitar is dovetailed into the texture, particularly since both works were inspired by the sights and sounds of Spain. This is delectably picturesque music -- note the lilting Pastorale that opens the Quintet in D, for example, as well as the dashingly rhythmic closing Fandango, with its rattling tambourine. In the C Major Quintet, the Spanish flavor emerges only in the final movement, which is a brilliant evocation of nocturnal Madrid. In between the two guitar quintets, the period-instrument ensemble offers a concise string quartet from Boccherini's sojourn in Spain, though there are no overt Spanish references. It is a finely wrought work, with a starkly dramatic opening Allegro, a sweetly lyrical Adagio, and a darkly elegant Minuet. The performances of all three works are full of character, and the instruments' sounds have an attractive gleaming edge to them, enhanced by Virgin Classics' atmospheric engineering. Is a real Boccherini revival underway? This release certainly makes one hope so. Andrew Farach-Colton

All Music Guide

Sweet, intimate, and very dry, Fabio Biondi's 2002 recording of Boccherini's "Guitar Quintets" with players from Europa Galante and guitarist Giangiacomo Pinardi is ineffably charming, but possibly too etiolated for some taste. But it has the feel of polished oak and such a wonderfully evocative sense of place and time that it is hard not to fall for Biondi and Boccherini. Much of the appeal, of course, is Boccherini's music: filled with luminous light and most tender affection, Boccherini is the chamber music equivalent of the young Goya, and it would take a hard heart not to be beguiled by Boccherini's "La ritirata di Madrid" or swept up in his wonderfully stylized "Fandango." Biondi and Europa Galante may be fay, but they match the music's delicate delights. Virgin's sound is close but with a sense of space around it. James Leonard

Gramophone

Boccherini's blend of the vivacious and the plaintive is realized splendidly here.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

A smiling, joyous new disc by guitarist Giangiacomo Pinardi and the Europa Galante ensemble indicates the pendulum is swinging back in the composer's favor. They have a great time with the quintets. (A) Pierre Ruhe