Vivaldi: La Stravaganza - Kaine, Loveday, ASMF, Neville Marriner

Antonio Vivaldi
La Stravaganza
Carmel Kaine, Alan Loveday, Neville Marriner,
Academy of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields
Decca 444 821-2

For those listeners who are only familiar with the most popular facet of Vivaldi's output, the ubiquitous Four Seasons, the prospect of wading through this earlier set of twelve violin concertos may not initially sound all that enticing. Unlike their much more familiar cousins (which in fact are a part of another set of concerti, Il cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Invenzione op.8), La Stravaganza does not come equipped with easy-to-grasp programmatic clues as to what the music is 'about' - no musical depictions of cuckoos, peasant's dances, midday heatwaves, buzzing flies or walking over iced rivers here. Instead, what you get is two cd's worth of more or less 'abstract' Italian baroque concerti, with a typically Vivaldian accent. Does that imply an unimaginative déjà-vu journey over a terrain devoid of real interest, then, with nothing much more to tell these twelve concertos apart from each other than their somewhat dryish RV catalogue numbers? After all, a very accomplished composer also once exclaimed that Vivaldi was but a dull fellow who just composed the same concerto over and over again.

The answer, of course, is a resounding no. To a certain extent, the aforementioned opinion of Stravinsky may well be justified - however, following this logic, it would be as correct (and as blatantly wrong) to claim that all Camille Pissarro actually could paint was a single dot. Errare humanum est, even if you should happen to be a Stravinsky. Accusing Vivaldi of dullness just because he happened to compose in a certain personal (admitted, occasionally strictly defined) style sounds every bit as silly as condemning Pissarro's canvases, in a word, pointless.

Be as it may, and to the joy of all baroque music lovers, La Stravaganza is literally bursting with gloriously swirling melodies, dazzling solos, melting cantilenas and powerful ritornellos. All this topped with a spotless and inspired delivery from the ASMF and the soloists (Carmel Kaine and Alan Loveday) makes this mid-price Decca set an irresistible bargain. More so, in fact, than the Penguin Rosette-awarded ASMF version of La Cetra under Iona Brown - a decent record in its own right, but one which somehow seems to miss the all-important last ounce of soaring abandon. However, this performance of La Stravaganza not only manages to negotiate the tricky runway leading towards Vivaldian heights of elegance and beauty; it also takes flight, and the following dazzling sense of weightlessness elevates the listener to quite another level.

The recording comes from 1975, and while it is not absolutely hiss-free, the analogue-to-digital remaster is very successful, bringing out the glowingly warm string tone in both solo and tutti sections. The continuo (alternating between cembalo and organ, with theorbi included) is not so forwardly situated as in more recent and "authentic" versions, and, in keeping with the ASMF tradition of that era, the overall sound is rather controlled, streamlined and smooth - however, this is not a blemish when the playing is of such high voltage. The occasionally irritating dimension of over-polished surfaces and routine that was later to creep into some ASMF recordings (e.g. the later digital set of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos) is gloriously absent here, as there is a very real sense of 'competition' between the solo players and the tutti sections - almost as if both were mischievously trying to outplay each other. With musicians of this calibre, the results can be only successful.

As far as non-historical recordings are concerned, Marriner and his team in their heyday achieved heights that still remain out of reach for most ensembles trying their hand in this repertoire. Should you want to add a specimen of vintage ASMF Vivaldi in your collection, well, this is a perfect choice.

Samuli Repo, Amazon customer review