Maria Grimani’s gifts, though, are self-evident even from the short sinfonia (overture) that opens Pallade e Marte.

Strikingly she was first-ever woman to have an opera produced there: Pallade e Marte was unveiled at the Vienna court theatre in celebration of the emperor’s saint’s day on 4 November 1713. She appears to have been born into a noble Venetian family and what we do know is that she spent periods of time in Vienna, where she was active during the reign of Charles VI and was one of the last of a series of female oratorio composers at the imperial court. The life of the Italian composer Maria Grimani is so wreathed in mystery that we don’t even know for certain when she died. BIS' early digital sound is as clear, clean, deep, honest, and true, in its way, as its latest super audio digital sound.Today we get to experience arguably the best-known set of violin concertos ever written – The Four Seasons – alongside a composer whose music has almost entirely vanished from sight. Filled out with witty accounts of Vivaldi's F major Concerto for Bassoon and his G minor Concerto for Flute and Bassoon, this disc is a delight. There's real pleasure here, and real affection, as if the concertos were newly composed and these were their world premieres. Beyond their excellent technique and impeccable sense of style, Sparf and the Swedish musicians bring joy and enthusiasm to the music, and sound like they are in turn receiving happiness and energy from the music. This version with Nils-Erik Sparf and the Drottningholm Court Baroque Ensemble would be an ideal choice because theirs is the freshest performance of the piece.

Superbly played, brilliantly recorded period instrument performances of this perennial masterpiece are all but a dime a dozen, and the differences between Hogwood's and Pinnock's and Harnoncourt's readings don't begin to make up for the fatal boredom of their performances. If listeners had to commit to a single version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons for the rest of their lives, this 1984 BIS recording would be thoroughly satisfying choice.

Vivaldi four seasons baroque