Negative Positive
Title: Puzzled
Review: I have to say, Daniel Smith's playing is anything but mellifluous. As a bassoon student I find listening to this recording both cringe-worthy and uninspiring. Having heard the magnificent Klaus Thunemann play Vivaldi's concertos with superior virtuosity, I'm inevitably going to compare him with Smith - and they don't compare. Smith's opening statement in the C major Concerto is vague and unconvincing. His intonation is variable and his technique is lacking in... well, technique. Baroque music demands a specific type of rhetoric and there is no evidence of his attention to this detail. It's disappointing, after reading the track list which promises to amuse, to be met by a type of playing that holds you at arms length. It appears that I am genuinely failing to recognise his appeal. If I can offer alternatives - Dag Jensen and Klaus Thunemann.
Is the review positive or negative? 