The Italian baroque composer Antonio Caldara (1670-1736) is known for his rather bland sacred music (when I played some in a lecture, a well-known conductor said afterwards: “If I ever try to programme some of his music, remind me not to”). But these trio sonatas are full of colour and sonority, even though the scoring is for just two violins and continuo. Corelli is clearly the model; the Op 1 sonatas are mostly church style slow-fast-slow-fast, the Op 2 set use a variety of dance forms. Right at the end comes the gem: a Chiacona where Caldara throws caution to the winds and these lively players sound as if they are improvising.
