What's a Croatian ensemble doing with the Italian name "I Solisti di Zagreb"? I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with its founder and director, Antonio Janigro, being from Milan.
Janigro, noted as both a cellist and conductor, spent most of his career in Zagreb, and founded the Zagreb Soloists chamber ensemble in 1953. Today it is usually called by its Croatian name,
Zagrebački solisti.
This traversal of some familiar holiday fare comes from 1957, when the group had begun recording for Vanguard Bach Guild. They had already become an impressive, secure ensemble, well led by Janigro and nicely recorded by Vanguard.
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| A giant Janigro attempts to behead a Zagreb violinist |
The repertoire here begins with the Corelli Christmas Concerto. Then we have three J.S. Bach chorales in respectful arrangements by Croatian composer Milko Kelemen. Following is the Toy Symphony once thought to be by Haydn, then by Leopold Mozart and now by who-knows. And finally there is the Torelli Concerto Grosso known as the "Pastoral Symphony for the Nativity."
The sound is excellent.
