Stefan Plewniak writes of his new release with the Cappella dell’Ospedale della Pieta: “It is like rock and roll for a violinist to discover his music. So many different patterns within a definite form. So much passion in Vivaldi to push our instrument to its limits, as far as he could. For me, this music expresses the joy, sun, excitement, vitality, passion, and all the feelings and experiences you encounter in Venice, including the light, different smells, colors of the sky and buildings, the sounds of the crowd, the special energy of the people. Vivaldi’s music is strongly connected to the Carnival. Even if mainly operas were written for that period, the music business was strongly focused on this, the most festive time of the year. I feel that instrumental music was no less affected by this Carnival energy than opera.”

Includes work(s) by Antonio Vivaldi.

The ensemble Scaramuccia began in 2013, thanks to violinist Javier Lupiáñez's quest to rediscover the lesser-known baroque repertoire. Scaramuccia's purpose is to bring back to life the repertoire of which one could listen not only in the most refined circles, but also in the taverns and on the streets of the baroque past. Along with Vivaldi, this release features Prete Rosso's recently-rediscovered works. This recording is aiming to be part of the new history, featuring these recently discovered works.

Classical Music

In the corpus of recordings made by I Musici on behalf of Phillips, in the mid-sixties, it still counts the recording of Vivaldi's Op. No. 3 - L'Estro armonico. This is not the case to deepen the artistic element of the famous chamber music ensemble. Suffice it to say that despite the contributions of the executive philology, this traditional recording remains a landmark in the discography of Vivaldi, ever actual for the executive equilibrium, for the solo contributions and for its beauty in general.

Il tempio armonico: Antonio Vivaldi – 4 Seasons of Love

Also available on Blu-ray

Il Farnace is the most re-written and re-proposed of Vivaldi’s operas. Versions of Farnace, two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, were conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi’s satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production. The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi’s operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season. The abbot Antonio Conti wrote that of all the operas of the Venice season he liked best Farnace because its music was varied, “between the sublime and the tender,” and because Vivaldi’s pupil worked wonders. In 1738, for the Ferrara Carnival season, Vivaldi wrote a new score of the opera. This is the last Farnace, in two acts, as the third was lost.

Also available on Blu-ray

The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.

There is some gorgeous playing here, stylishly ornamented and beautifully floated, with a seemingly inexhaustible air supply. - Deseret News - Salt Lake City

Julian Olevsky, Vol. 3: Vivaldi Violin Concertos

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Antonio Vivaldi wrote most of his choral music for the all-female orphanage Ospedalle della Pietà in Venice, where he directed the musical activities for almost 40 years. Vivaldi's sacred music exudes the same spirited drive and dramatic virtuosity that have made his concertos so popular. The young women of the Pietà chosen to perform in its choir were renowned for their exceptional musical abilities and angelic voices, and their concerts quickly became a popular tourist attraction in the 18th century. It is unclear whether these girls actually performed the bass parts, though there are a few tantalizing--if unintuitive!--contemporary references to just such a practice There is no consensus on whether the lower voices were sung as written in the score--most modern renditions feature a mixed chorus--or whether they were transposed up an octave. Matthias Maute, conducting Ensemble Caprice, makes an inspired case for the latter approach--his all-female choir sounds, aptly, angelic.

Classical Music

In the autumn of 1725, as France celebrated the union of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska, the French ambassador in Venice entrusted Vivaldi with the composition of a serenata in honor of the young royal couple. This commission inspired a sumptuous work, carried by two allegorical figures: Imeneo, god of marriage, and Gloria, the radiant embodiment of French majesty. In turn, these voices rise, echo each other, and gracefully contend in virtuosity, before blending in a sumptuous final duet, sealing their tribute in perfect harmony. Logan Lopez Gonzalez and Nicolo Balducci lend their talent and sensitivity to these roles, exalting Vivaldi's music. In the profusion of his work, this brief yet striking piece stands out as much for it's diplomatic finesse as for it's inspired brilliance - an enchantment offered to the French Court.

Selection of the most popular recorder concertos by Antonio Vivaldi; combined with arias and arrangements like "Winter" from "Le quattro stagioni".

Vivaldi was already a renowned opera composer in Venice and throughout Italy, but he gained exceptional notoriety throughout Europe when the concerti constituting his Quattro Stagioni were published in Amsterdam. These theme concertos, which embraced the imagination of Arcimboldo, gained top billing in private and public concerts. But their composition for solo violin has impressive virtuosity and expression: Stefan Plewniak becomes both unchained and sensual in them, not giving the Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal any opportunity for respite in intensely sounding out these seasons that are so emblematic of Baroque Europe!

The Swiss recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi enchants his audience with his great virtuosity and stylistic versatility. Together with the Piccante Baroque Orchestra, which consists of early music specialists from the Basel music scene, he takes us on a fiery virtuoso sound journey to the Venice of the "Prete rosso" Antonio Vivaldi. Like hardly any other composer of his time, Vivaldi helped the recorder and its variants to musical heights with his compositions. Stupendously virtuoso runs alternate here with beautiful cantilenas.

Duo Gelland was founded in 1994 by the spouses Cecilia Gelland and Martin Gelland, bringing their individual perspectives on contemporary and early repertoire to the ensemble. This recording of their interpretations of four Vivaldi's Sonatas for Two Violins celebrates the Red Priest's physical, virtuosic approach to the instrument. Duo Gelland fills their performances with daring, lithe ornamentation and expressive subtlety and variation not often heard in contemporary readings of these works.

A bestselling recording since it's first release in 2008, Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti's memorable performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons has been reissued by Alpha Classics for a second time. Using both the Le Cene edition and the Manchester manuscript, Beyer's broad understanding of the composer's markings meant that she was able to fully respect the score whilst remaining curious and experimental. This approach prompted BBC Radio 3 to state: "I would stick my neck out and say I have never heard one that satisfied me better". Beyer describes the four concertos as "an infinite source of delights" and credits musicologist Olivier Foures for the addition of three rarely recorded, or previously unpublished, concertos to the programme. These superb pieces, which throw an intriguing light on Vivaldi's different modes of composition, are a fine addition to this performance of the famous Four Seasons, which established Gli Incogniti among the top reference ensembles for historically informed performance.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian composer, violinist, and priest, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures of the Baroque era. Born in Venice, Vivaldi was nicknamed "Il Prete Rosso" (The Red Priest) because of his red hair and clerical background. Although he was ordained as a priest, his true vocation was music. He spent much of his life working at the Ospedale della Piet�, a Venetian orphanage for girls, where he composed and directed music, training many talented young musicians. Vivaldi's greatest legacy lies in his instrumental concertos, especially those with the violin. Each concerto displays his remarkable understanding of the instrument's expressive and technical capabilities. His concertos typically follow the three-movement structure (fast-slow-fast) that became standard in later classical music. They are characterized by brilliant virtuosity, rhythmic vitality, and a clear sense of form and contrast between soloist and orchestra. Among his violin concertos, The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) stands out as his most famous and innovative work. Composed around 1723 and published in 1725, this set of four concertos -Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter- is a vivid example of early program music. Each concerto is accompanied by a sonnet that describes natural scenes and human emotions associated with the seasons. Through musical imagery such as bird calls, thunderstorms, harvest dances, and icy winds, Vivaldi masterfully translates the poetry into sound. Included are the concertos Op. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12. Vivaldi's concertos influenced many later composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, who transcribed several of them. Although his music fell out of favor after his death, the 20th century brought a revival of interest, restoring Vivaldi's reputation as a master of melody, color, and instrumental brilliance. Today, his concertos remain central to the Baroque repertoire and beloved by performers and audiences worldwide. Played by Italian violinist Federico Guglielmo and his L'Arte dell'arco. The press has been unanimous in it's praise: "a definitive recording, bravo!" (Diapason), "infectious joy, improvisatory flair and instinct, this is music making minted in the moment" (BBC 3), "They know the secret language of Vivaldi.." (Diapason).

Sophie Dervaux, the first female bassoonist of the illustrious Vienna Philharmonic, continues her captivating exploration of Vivaldi's Bassoon Concerti. In this latest release, Dervaux masterfully continues her journey through Vivaldi's enchanting works, showcasing her exceptional talent and artistry. Accompanied by the esteemed La Folia Baroque Orchestra, renowned for their commitment to historically informed performances on period instruments, this album offers a fresh and authentic interpretation of Vivaldi's timeless compositions. The orchestra's expertise enhances Dervaux's virtuosic playing, bringing a vibrant energy and richness to each concerto.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), one of the most influential composers of the Baroque era. A Venetian priest and violinist, Vivaldi composed hundreds of concertos that pushed the boundaries of instrumental technique and showcased his inventive use of color and rhythm. Among his many works, the three Piccolo Concertos -RV443, RV444, and RV445- stand out as rare and remarkable contributions to the repertoire of this small but expressive instrument. Written most likely in the late 1720s or early 1730s, these concertos were not originally scored for the modern piccolo but for the flautino, a high-pitched recorder or transverse flute. Today, they are most often performed on the piccolo, whose piercing timbre and agility make the works especially dazzling. Each concerto follows Vivaldi's typical three-movement fast-slow-fast structure, but within this framework he explores both technical brilliance and lyrical expression. RV443, perhaps the most famous of the three, opens with a lively Allegro that brims with virtuosic passagework, followed by a tender Largo in which the piccolo's sweet tone contrasts with the orchestral accompaniment, and concludes with a spirited Allegro full of rhythmic drive. RV444 displays a more dramatic character, with bold orchestral writing and challenging solo lines that demand precision and breath control. RV445, meanwhile, is admired for it's lyrical central movement and it's sparkling finale, which showcases rapid scales and arpeggios that highlight the piccolo's agility. Francesco Guggiola plays Solo Piccolo at Teatro alla Scala and Filarmonica della Scala in Milano and is professor at Accademia della Scala.

Vivaldi’s Sonatas for two violins, anco senza basso se piace (also without bass if preferred), represent one of the innumerable peaks of his compositional prowess. They are structured in three movements, each of which develops in a bipartite manner, making evident reference to concerto form, with only the internal bipartite structure alluding to sonata form. This distinguishes Vivaldi’s approach to the duo without bass from that of some of his European colleagues, namely Telemann (Sonates sans basse, 1727) and Leclair (Sonates à deux violons sans basse Op.3, 1730).
The palette of colours and expressive effects used by Vivaldi in these sonatas is truly impressive: arpeggios, double stops, high-register passages, extremely complex articulations requiring exceptional bow technique, ornate cantabile lines (to be further ornamented by the performer) and even more radical cantabile in the central movements. Here, Vivaldi’s mastery is evident in a sensitive use of lines that are disarming in their simplicity yet tremendously expressive, using a modest language of triplets, appogiaturas and Lombard rhythms in perfect amounts to maximum effect.
A handwritten inventory of the music collection of the noble Collalto family at Brtnice attests along with 15 concertos by Vivaldi to a Duetto, or rather, a Sonata for 2 violins in five movements by one Andrea Zani, a composer who emulated Vivaldi’s music and style to the degree that historians assume Zani studied under Vivaldi for a time. (That being said, Zani stands out as one of the purest and most interesting composers of instrumental music in Italy in the first half of the 18th century. His works – at once original and innovative – are largely yet to be studied and performed.) Sadly all that survives of the Collalto collection is that inventory, but Zani’s Duetto has come down to us via three sources preserved in Sweden. As in Vivaldi’s compositions, the movements in Zani’s work are bipartite in form. Zani, too, establishes the colour palette of his compositions with highly effective progressions, employing the whole expressive armoury fielded by his idol, Vivaldi. Zani’s writing also makes frequent use of a great rhythmic propulsion. Finally, and in contrast to Vivaldi, Zani did not provide a bass ad libitum, indicating his clear intent for duo rather than trio sonata performance.

More than 300 years after Antonio Vivaldi composed The Four Seasons, the most famous work in the history of music is still as lively and invigorating as ever. Now Le Concert de la Loge has recorded this Baroque treasure with it's founder and director, the violinist Julien Chauvin, as soloist. For the occasion, the Chateau de Versailles has loaned him an exceptional instrument: a Neapolitan violin by Nicola Gagliano, adorned with fleur-de-lys and inlaid decorations. This instrument, which was played by Yehudi Menuhin in the 1970s, comes from the 'collection de Madame Adela�de', named after one of Louis XV's daughters. It has not left the Chateau for almost a century and is in a perfect state of preservation. The main work is complemented by Vivaldi's no less celebrated 'La Follia' and an aria that is now famous in it's own right, 'Sovvente il sole' from Andromeda liberata, the score of which was discovered in Venice in 2002. It is performed here by the countertenor Paul-Antoine Benos-Djian.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678, in a period during which the cello was acquiring popularity in the world of concerts and an important role in musical entertainment. The Red Priest ennobled the soul of the cello. It gave him the inspiration for no less than twenty-seven concertos for solo cello, a concerto for cello and bassoon (rv 409 in E minor), another one for two cellos, string instruments and basso continuo (rv 531 in G minor), a considerable number of works with the indication “violoncello obbligato”, and nine sonatas for cello and basso continuo (in addition to the beginning of a tenth sonata which has been lost). For these works, musicological research has often placed the name of Vivaldi side by side with that of Antonio Vandini, whose six sonatas for cello and basso continuo have been recorded for Tactus by Bologna Baroque in 2018 (TC 692202). For the recording, we used two cellos of the Fondazione Orpheon that belong to Maestro Jose Vasquez: a cello of the Montagnana School (circa 1750) for the solo part and a Simone Cimapane from 1692 (that according to some written evidence had belonged to Arcangelo Corelli’s orchestra) for the basso continuo part.

The violin concerto accompanied Vivaldi throughout his life. And more than any other genre, the circa 220 extant violin concertos reflect the biographical and professional events relating to the "Red Priest". Hence the idea – proposed, we believe, for the first time on disc – of recording 18 concertos, divided into three “seasons” that illustrate the evolution of Vivaldi’s art through the three different stages of his career: the early years, his maturity and the late period. Giuliano Carmignola grew up with Vivaldi’s music, first in his own family and subsequently in various collaborations with ensembles specialised in the Baroque repertoire, leaving us recordings that still today stand as landmarks in the Vivaldi discography. The project of the Three Seasons offers an intriguing parallel between these two inimitable virtuoso violinists by assembling 18 Vivaldi masterpieces which Giuliano Carmignola has carefully selected and never before recorded, including a world premiere recording, that of Concerto RV 289. This box set of three CDs wishes to be a summa not only of Vivaldi’s art, but also of Carmignola’s, interweaving their personal histories and careers. The violinist is here accompanied by Riccardo Doni, directing the Accademia dell'Annunciata, musicians with whom he has enjoyed an over-ten-year collaboration.

Antonio Vivaldi wrote often for the orphan girls of the Ospedale della Pietà. The fame of the music-making ladies in Venice once resounded far beyond the lagoon city. Michael Oman, Amandine Beyer and the Grazzi brothers dedicate themselves to this very virtuoso repertoire with the Austrian Baroque Company. “Explosive music-making, glorious recorder-playing, Baroque swing” – this is how one could describe the basic aims and achievements of those top players from the original-instrument scene who came together to create the Austrian Baroque Company, a group which is celebrated internationally, receiving the highest praise and many awards since its formation in 2001.

This seventy-fourth volume of the Vivaldi Edition of the na�ve label is dedicated to the opera Arsilda, a work of great dramatic variety that greatly stimulates the insatiable imagination of the Venetian. This major work is defended here with ardor and fluidity by Andrea Marcon, his musicians of La Cetra, and seven singers in perfect artistic communion, including the mezzo-sopranos Benedetta Mazzucato and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in the two main roles (Arsilda, and Lisea).

Hard to believe, but “Juditha triumphans” is the only oratorio by the extremely productive Antonio Vivaldi. This is all the more astonishing as the “Prete Rosso” was closely connected throughout his life with the famous Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. The reputation of the former concerts in this orphanage for girls still echoes far beyond Venice. Vivaldi has written “Juditha triumphans” for the young musicians. So it is not surprising that the work is also only performed with female voices—and this also in the choir. In this live recording Roberto Zarpellon brings together young singers whose passion for melancholic and fiery music is audible in every note.

This CD presents Violin Concertos from Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza Op. 4, transcribed for organ. These are contained in the collection known as Anne Dawson's Book and kept at the Henry Watson Music Library in Manchester (UK). The collection, compiled around 1720, contains, in addition to arias for voice and basso continuo, a number of compositions for keyboard instrument along with several transcriptions of concertos by various composers, including 10 by Vivaldi. They are closely related to the original score and show an evident process of adaptation to the possibilities and idiom of the keyboard instrument.

Organist Luca Scandali is one of Italy’s foremost scholars and keyboard players. For Brilliant Classics he recorded the complete organ works by C.P.E. Bach (nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik), Galuppi, Pasquini, Pellegrini and Padovano. He plays the Gaetano Callido organ from 1774 at the Church of San Venanzo, Albacina, Italy.