This new release by the Vilnius String Quartet presents two exciting gems in 20th century chamber music: the first two String Quartets by Lithuanian composer Jurgis Karnaviius (1884-1941) as world premiere recordings.

Michael Haydn’s colourful and inventive music is uplifting and expressive in equal measure, but his music has been eclipsed by that of his elder brother Joseph, and by Mozart. Sacred music is central to Michael Haydn’s oeuvre and was considered by some contemporary critics as superior to Joseph’s. Encompassing a broad range of textures and styles, parts of the Missa Sancti Nicolai Tolentini demonstrate Haydn’s music at its most exhilarating and energetic, and his supreme gift for empfindsames (‘sensitive’) lyrical writing is also to be heard in the Vespers.

Like many of the performances in previous installments, these–three bassoon concertos, two for oboe, and one double concerto for oboe and bassoon–also are characterized by widely contrasting tempos, sharply delineated dynamics, and especially here, a stylish in-your-face approach. From bassoonist Sergio Azzolini’s quite audible intake of breath before beginning the Concerto in D minor and continuing throughout this captivating program, rarely have Vivaldi’s wind concertos been rendered with such a consistent sense of urgency, vitality, and well, attitude.