The Guitar Quintet, with its fandango final movement (which includes castanets), is as famous as any other piece of late -18th-century chamber music. Boccherini is sometimes seen as a rather prissy composer (he's been referred to as "Haydn's wife") because of how refined and graceful his music tends to be, but refinement and grace do not preclude vitality, bounce, and/or catchy tunes. At any rate, he composed more than 500 works for solo instruments and orchestra in the last 40 years of his century, and if not all of them are superb, the four recorded here certainly are.

And Savall and soloists of Le Concert des Nations play the heck out them. As to the Guitar Quintet, Savall leads a passionate, fun-loving reading that is "popular" in the best sense: all stodginess is gone, attacks are bright and fast, and Rolf Lislevand's guitar playing is clear and has all the energy of an excitable street musician, with a rhythmic urgency that is highlighted even more by the castanets. The Quintettino, a programmatic piece in seven movements, reconstructs a night in Madrid. One movement has the violin imitating a drum; another, performed all in pizzicato, portrays the bells ringing the Ave Maria; yet another sounds the retreat of soldiers. The five instruments are differently highlighted by Boccherini--and Savall--and the consistencies keep changing. It's an irresistible work, brilliantly performed.

The D minor symphony will remind listeners of Haydn. It features flute, horns, and bassoons, and the second movement gives each of them moments in which to shine. It moves from major to minor modes frequently and keeps you on your toes; between moments of extroverted music-making come softer, spellbinding interludes. It's a turbulent work, very much in the Sturm und Drang mode that was just taking over European music at the time, and its upbeat finale, with strings swirling, is a wonderfully busy piece of composition. The A major sinfonia comes across as the perfect combination of symphony and chamber music, with contrasting sections of strings and winds and a great forward impetus. Boccherini's music always is full of charm; Savall, his musicians, and Alia Vox's engineers have turned these pieces into a great listening experience. [3/31/2006]