Various artists - Luigi Boccherini: Boccherini Edition CD

Though never a rival to his contemporaries Haydn and Mozart in terms of fame, partly on account of a lack of great ambition, Boccherini was held in huge esteem by connoisseurs in his own lifetime. ""If God wanted to speak to man through music, he would do so through the works of Haydn; if he wished to listen to music himself, he would choose the works of Boccherini."" There cannot be any greater accolade than this, expressed in 1798 by the French violinist and composer Jean-Baptiste Cartier – and that was certainly not a unique view: Boccherini’s prodigious talents as a lyrical melodist and sumptuous sound smith were highly prized by those who had encountered them. Boccherini is the greatest Italian composer of the Classical era – although he lived in Spain for most of his career. Distanced from the Austro-German mainstream, his music retained an individual and distinctive voice, imbued with a refined galant grace which, on the surface at least, can sometimes appear old-fashioned even for his time. Unlike the Viennese school, he was not preoccupied with structural and tonal complexities, but pushed boundaries in his own quieter, more subtle ways. Undervalued in modern times (he has been mean-spiritedly dismissed as ‘Haydn’s wife’), there is much to appreciate in Boccherini’s uniquely expressive voice. His greatest legacy is an enormous body of chamber works, but his output also includes around 30 symphonies, a dozen concertos for his own instrument, the cello, and a smattering of vocal works. This monumental set gathers all of the above, in lavish performances by artists who are among the greatest champions of the composer’s art in recent decades.