But usage was flexible, and transcriptions were a matter of course. In the case of Corelli, a simplified adaptation for recorder of some of his sonatas, published only two years after the original, provides the justification for the present fuller transcription of his Op. 5 no. 6 incorporating the "agréments de M. Corelli comme il les joue" shown in the 1710 and 1711 editions. Except for the inevitable loss of double-stops and for the characteristics cross-string passage-work in the second movement, the work is convincing in its new garb; but to take the third movement presto posibile, as is done here, is implausible, though it displays Peñalver's virtuosic tonguing and fingering.
Three sonatas by Castrucci, who led Handel's opera orchestra in London for many years, reveal an eccentric individuality, with some startling key-changes; but for extravagant ornamentation he is surpassed by the flamboyant embellishments in Veracini's expressive G minor sonata. The Sanmartini work shows a move to a more galant style. Of all the sonatas here, the quirky example by Locatelli makes the greatest technical demands, which however do not in the least daunt Peñalver's agility; and particular praise is due throughout the disc to Juan Carlos Rivera's admirably effective accompaniment on theorbo and guitar. LIONEL SALTER