Vivaldi: Les Ouvertures d'Opéras - I Solisti Veneti, Scimone

Antonio Vivaldi
Les Ouvertures d'Opéras
I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone
Erato 4509-96381-2

Now this is my kind of opera! The instrumental parts without the annoying vocal parts. The ultimate win-win deal. Enjoy!

Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico - L'Arte dell'Arco, Hogwood

Anotnio Vivaldi
L'Estro Armonico
Federico Guglielmo, L'Arte dell'Arco, Christopher Hogwood
Chandos CHAN 0689(2)

Welcome to All the Pleasures - The English Concert, Pinnock

Bach, Boyce, Haydn, Händel,
Mozart, Purcell, Scarlatti, Vivaldi
Welcome to All the Pleasures
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 437 175-2

I am thrilled that Archiv Produktion in Canada has assembled "Welcome To All The Pleasures", and happy that it includes so many personal favorites from my discography. This celebration of choral, keyboard and orchestral music on authentic instruments is a voyage filled with delicious musical pleasures and warm personal memories, for 1993 marks my fifteenth anniversary with Archiv Produktion, and the twentieth anniversary of my founding of The English Concert. My new assosiation with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra is providing every bit as adventurous and is filled with the pleasures of rich musical rewards. So, indeed, welcome to all the pleasures!

Trevor Pinnock

Vivaldi: L'estro Armonico - 12 Concertos Op.3 - EG, Fabio Biondi

Antonio Vivaldi
L'estro Armonico - 12 Concertos Op.3
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
Virgin 5 45315 2

This was the great collection of 12 varied and exciting violin concertos that turned Bach on to concerto writing. In fact, he transcribed several of these works for solo harpsichord, organ--even for harpsichords and orchestra. What fascinated him most was the balanced, three-movement form, the brilliance of the solo passages, the tunefulness of the music generally, and Vivaldi's seemingly inexhaustible storehouse of invention. When a composer ventured to publish a collection such as this, he was making a major statement. This is one of the really big ones in Baroque music, and it's performed with splendid authority and an unrivaled sense of sheer joy.

David Hurwitz, Amazon.com Editorial Review

Vivaldi: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invertione - EG, Biondi

Antonio Vivaldi
Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invertione
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
Virgin 5 45465 2

Another Four Seasons, but this one shoots to the top of the list. Fabio Biondi's imaginative playing is full of spunk and vigor, delineating Vivaldi's scene-painting without overdoing it. His band matches him with rhythmic vitality; this is one Vivaldi set that holds your interest from start to finish.

In his program notes, Biondi explains the use of the "Manchester" manuscript of the Four Seasons, which was closer to the composer's intentions than editions published later, and he discusses the manuscript sources for the other works. The Four Seasons are the first four concertos of Vivaldi's Opus 8 set of a dozen, titled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Trial of Harmony and Invention). The others may not share the Seasons' popularity, but they're of comparable excellence, especially in performances as exciting as these. First-rate sound, close-up and immediate, underscores the vibrancy of the performances. Biondi's 1991 Four Seasons on Opus 111 is still in the catalog, but this one scores because Virgin includes the complete Opus 8 on two discs for the price of one.

Dan Davis, Amazon.com Editorial Review

Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagion - Salvatore Accardo, ISSI di Napoli

Antonio Vivaldi
Le Quattro Stagion
Salvatore Accardo, I Solisti delle Settimane Internazionale di Napoli
Philips 422 065-2

This is, including a few oddballs, the 39th CD version of Vivaldi's Big Four (the LP count is even higher): "What, another one?" do I hear you say? Well, yes - but numbers aren't everything. In an earlier selection of Vivaldi concertos (EMI (D CDC7 49320-2, 10/88) Accardo celebrated the art of Stradivarius by using four 'matched' priceless violins and here he continues to do so with one per season: Cremonese, ex-Reynier, Firebird and Hart (ex-Francescatti), in that order. The pleasure of playing these instruments is shared by the ripieno violinists, all five of whom get their solo places in the Venetian sun in RV55I and 580, not overshadowed by their distinguished maestro. Such opulence of sound might have unfortunate consequences for this music but, thanks to the modest size of the band (5.2.2.1) and the buon gusto of all concerned, it does not; as with the best potato chips, crispness and lightness prevail and the cooking fat of vibrato is sufficient to please the palate, but not to cloy it. Though several of the flanking movements are a little leisurely, the slow ones are fractionally quicker than usual in tempo, but you are likely to notice it only if you consult the clock - and, as I said, numbers aren't everything. As in the earlier EMI recording, the harpsichordist (Bruno Canino) is very much in evidence and usually with something of his own to say; in the second movement of "Autumn" he does considerably more than arpeggiate, and he deftly echoes Accardo's embellishments in the second movement of "Winter". Some may feel that he 'talks' too much, but I find it an amiable peccadillo - if such it be.

This is a recording that happily bridges the divide between 'middle of the road' and 'authentic' and one that should please devotees of either species; it conveys, vividly but not theatrically, the spirit of the music - and without misrepresentation. This splendidly engineered recording is not, by the way, the first all-Stradivarius Four Seasons; that distinction belongs to Ruggiero Ricci (MCA MUCSI IS, 9/68-nla). As if all this were not enough, there is the unusual bonus of the multiple concertos; most other recordings of The Four Seasons contain nothing more.

J. D., Gramophone Magazine

Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni - The English Concert, Pinnock

Antonio Vivaldi
Le Quattro Stagioni
The English Concert, Simon Standage, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 400 045-2

Not just any Le Quattro Stagioni.

Just for my own interest-though no, perhaps for that of others too-I've been looking into the phenomenon of the Four Seasons' rampaging popularity. I find that the very first LP version to be normally available in this country (which it fell to me to review in this magazine) was a 1951 mono issue by Miinchinger on Decca: there was then a gap of three-and-a-half years before a trickle of alternative recordings appeared. When, by 1962, 13 had been clocked up there was another three-and-a-half years' pause, after which the trickle became a torrent, the most prolific years being 1973 and 1977, each boasting five new recordings. The present version by Pinnock's English Concert (which had previously played the work on CRD) is the 55th to be issued; but understandable questions as to the need to have continued adding to the number were well answered by NA in his review of the LP. Not only is this a performance, on period instruments (including a theorbo), of uncommon vitality and graphic vividness, with stylish ornamentation by the soloist; it also, uniquely, uses a set of parts (now in Manchester) once belonging to Cardinal Ottoboni, which as well as being more correct over such things as accidentals also includes a few interesting variants. Add to this an extremely clear and well-balanced recording, a surface blessedly free from all extraneous noises and the removal of a stray note that disturbed NA, and the justification becomes evident. The 55th version in this form is a very strong recommendation indeed.

L.S., Gramophone Magazine

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

Vivaldi: La Cetra - Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Brown

Antonio Vivaldi
La Cetra
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Iona Brown
Decca 448 110-2

"There is some wonderful music here; the later concertos are every bit the equal of anything in The Trial between Harmony and Invention, and they are played gloriously." (The Penguin Guide)

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Orpheus Chamber Orch., Shaham

Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Gil Shaham
DG 439 933-2

Besides being my favorite recording of The Four Seasons this release also includes Shaham's take on Kreisler's highly recommendable "Concerto for Violin in the style of Vivaldi".

The early decades of this century were the heyday of the purveyor of pastiche masquerading as the genuine article and, in Sir Henry Wood's case, the pseudonymic arranger; Kreisler was perhaps the prime example of the former. Their motives were diverse: the annotator of the present disc states that Kreisler "found himself short of repertoire for celebrity recitals", and that, as little baroque music was then available (1905) and Kreisler was too "notoriously indolent" to search the archives, he chose to write some himself! His 'Vivaldi' Concerto, at first presented as genuine, is so unlike the music of its eponym that, even in those dark days, it is little wonder that the critics smelled a rat. The touching Andante doloroso has something of the ethos of an aria-like slow movement of Vivaldi, but there any resemblance ends. Forget Vivaldi, just take the concerto for what it is, a pleasing and skilfully written work in its own right.

There are a huge number of recordings of The Four Seasons currently available and whilst it is impossible to nominate any one as clearly the best it is safe to say that Shaham's represents a middleof-the-road 'vintage year', recorded in his own twenty-third one. His musical maturity, secure technique and purity of tone have been the subject of previous comment, as have the precision, responsiveness (to one another, since they have no conductor) and life-enhancing qualities of' the OCO; put the two together and you have a performance that is as fresh-sounding and sharply, but not theatrically, characterized as any in its category. Youth, extraordinary talent and clearsighted imagination have their day. With the unusual bonus of the Kreisler Concerto it deserves a place on anyone's shelf, whatever else may already be there. Recording and annotation are praiseworthy.

JD, Gramophone Magazine

Vivaldi: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione - Huggett, RBP

Antonio Vivaldi
Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, The Four Seasons
Monica Huggett, Raglan Baroque Players, Nicholas Kraemer
Virgin 5 61668 2

I am one who enjoys listening to an entire work rather than just parts of a composition. For example, I never buy recordings with only arias and choruses. I want to hear the entire piece! "The Four Seasons" is undoubtedly incredible, but they are only four concertos of a work that is made up of twelve concertos! The work is called "Il Cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione" ("The Contest Between Harmony and Invention"). Throughout you can hear the theme Vivaldi was portraying as there are some similarities between the pieces! Overall it is awesome and the Ragland Baroque Players perform fantastically! I highly recommend this CD!

Matthew Nelson, Amazon Customer

Vivaldi: La Cetra - Huggett, Raglan Baroque Players, Kraemer

Antonio Vivaldi
La Cetra - 12 Concertos Op.9
Monica Huggett, Raglan Baroque Players, Nicholas Kraemer
Virgin 5 61594 2

Monica Huggett’s Vivaldi recordings with Nicholas Kraemer’s Raglan Baroque Players are always a great pleasure to listen to. The “Four Seasons” recording (coupled with other concertos from Vivaldi’s opus 8) is, in my opinion, one of the best available today. The complete recording of Vivaldi’s opus 9 violin concertos, known as “La Cetra”, is also eminently worth hearing, although Vivaldi was here possibly not quite so inspired as with his previous work: for the non-expert, it is certainly not easy to keep the twelve concertos separated in one’s mind, and despite some strong movements the whole does have a certain “same-ishness” about it, each concerto consisting of three movements in the typical fast – slow – fast pattern common in 18th century Venice (only the fifth concerto has a slow introduction). Not only is Monica Huggett’s violin-playing a real revelation, the basso continuo is equally brilliant with, amongst other things, some marvellous theorbo accompaniments. Unfortunately, the Virgin Veritas re-release offers no information whatsoever on the names of the musicians or the instruments, and the accompanying text on Vivaldi’s music is far too short to be anything but a brief introduction. The recording was made in 1986 at St. Giles’ Church in London’s Cripplegate, originally for a company called Shogun Music (and later released on licence to EMI and Virgin). There is some background tape noise which can be a little annoying when listening via headphones, but in general the sound quality is more than adequate and provides almost two hours of baroque amusement in its purest form.

Leslie Richford, Amazon Customer

Musique Sacrée - Mozart: Requiem, Gregorian Chants, Vivaldi: Stabat Mater, Beatus Vir, Gloria

I found this set in the markdown bin of a music store in 1997. I find it beautiful, peaceful, & thrilling at times. Any time I hear other recordings of the Vivaldi pieces & the Mozart Requiem they just don't seem right, as I am so used to hearing these. I can't find any information about these on the net. They are all vocal so... :) I just hope some others will love them too.

VIVALDI: 12 CONCERTOS, OP. 8 - CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD, AAM

Antonio Vivaldi
12 Concertos, Op. 8
Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione
Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
L'Oiseau-Lyre 417 515-2

I found plenty to enjoy in these Vivaldi performances when they were first released on LP some three-and-a-half years ago. This is the set which includes the Four Seasons and many readers may already have encountered those concertos in the present version since they have been released on a separate LP and CD. In this new issue Vivaldi's opus is presented complete. The ten violin concertos are split up between five soloists, each of whom takes two works; the remaining concertos are scored for oboe or violin and Christopher Hogwood sensibly allots them to the oboe since the solo part strongly suggests that Vivaldi had it foremost in mind.

Different soloists for different concertos make for interesting listening and Hogwood, furthermore, adds to the variety with imaginative continuo realizations which effectively enhance texture and exploit sonority. This aspect of the interpretations is, for me, the most consistently rewarding one, though I hasten to add that solo and ripieno playing is, in all but one or two instances, refined and characterful. The oboist is the Swiss player, Michel Piguet, who gives gentle, lightly-articulated performances. In general I liked his ornamentation and he introduces an affecting pathos to the slow movement of the D minor Concerto, RV454. The finale fares a little less well; Piguet hurries his solo passages and the tutti-ritornellos, lively though they are, lack the bold assertiveness suggested in the writing. The attractive C major Concerto comes off delightfully and I enjoyed the mischievous little trills in the tuttis.

To sum up: I found myself enjoying these performances as much if not more than I did the first time round. The LP recorded sound was good but textures are clearer and sonorities more resonant in the CD format. A sparkling performance of the fine eleventh Concerto, RV2 10, such as we have here, may well tip the scales if you are questioning the wisdom of acquiring yet another Four Seasons. As I have already said, though, there is no shortage of enjoyable music-making here. Recommended. N.A. grammophone.net

VIVALDI
Il Cimento dell' Armonia e dell' Inventione 12 Concertos,Op.8

L'Oiseau-Lyre - Florilegium - Digital

THE ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC
CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD

Violins:
ALISON BURY - Rogeri 1699, Cremona
CHRISTOPHER HIRONS - Duke c. 1775
JOHN HOLLOWA Y - Mariani 1650
MONICA HUGGETT - Rowland Ross 1977 (Stradivarius 1688)
CATHERINE MACKINTOSH - Rowland Ross 1978 (Amati)
Oboe:
MICHEL PIGUET - Bernhard Schermer 1982 Oean Joseph Hyacinth, Rottenburgh 18th century)

Continuo instruments: Harpsichord, Chamber organ, Theorbo, Baroque guitar, Archlute

Record Producer: PETER WADLAND
Sound Engineer: JOHN DUNKERLEY
Recording Location: Kingsway Hall, London, November/December 1982

Vivaldi: La Cetra, 12 Concertos Op.9 - Standage, Hogwood

Antonio Vivaldi
La Cetra, 12 Concertos Op.9
Standage, The Academy of Ancient Music, Hogwood
L'Oiseau-Lyre 421 366-2

Vivaldi's last great set of printed concertos was La ceira ("The lyre"), published by Le Céne in Amsterdam in 1727. All but one of the 12 concertos are for solo violin; the exception is the ninth in the set, in B fiat (RV530), which is scored for two solo violins. Two others, in A major (RV348) and B minor (RV39I), the last concertos respectively, in each of the two books of six which constituted the original publication, require scordtura or retuning of the solo violin. Less innovative than L'esiro armonico, Vivaldi's first set of printed concertos, La cetra, nevertheless provides fine examples of the composer's mature style in works which contain rich diversity of character and whose musical charms grow rather than diminish upon acquaintance. Of all the sets of his concertos which as a teenager with an insatiable appetite for baroque music I borrowed from public libraries, it was and is still La ceira which remains dearest in my affections. How fortunate I am, therefore, to be the recipient of two outstandingly fine performances within the space of as many years. Each set has its own strong and less strong features, its own markedly differentiated character and very much its own sound, thereby providing a rewardingly complementary view of the music.

As I have remarked in previous issues of Viva Idi concertos performed by the Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood has an infectiously robust approach emphasized not only by lively tempos, crisp articulation and a distinctively bright sound but also by his imaginatively realized continuo lines. Here we have not only harpsichord or organ and cello but also archlute, theorbo and, in two concertos, a baroque guitar. The rival EMI set with the Raglan Baroque Players directed by Nicholas Kraemer is comparable in this respect though it does not employ a baroque guitar. Both directors field an ensemble of similar though not identical size with small discrepancies in certain preferred types of instrument. Hogwood uses a single cellist and a double-bass while Kraemer has two cellists for the tuttis and a violone. Hogwood's fundament, if I may put it that way, is thus marginally more resonant and pronounced than Kraemer's and his continuo group generally are more closely balanced than that in the other set. Throughout, Hogwood prefers slightly brisker tempos to those of Kraemer.

These are some of the more striking differences between the two sets, but of course it is in the playing of the two soloists, Simon Standage in the new version and Monica Huggett in the earlier one, that the greater contrasts lie and, in which, doubtless, factions will arise and differing schools of thought be born. Standage's sound is the brighter of the two and his approach is often more overtly demonstrative, even more passionate than that of Huggett. Standage has no fear of the extravagant gesture where he feels it is required and there is something of the demonic virtuoso about his playing which engenders considerable excitement in the mind and ears of a listener. In short, there is an infectious vitality which embraces Standage's playing and in which he is fervently and sometimes loudly backed up by the ensemble. Huggett's playing, at least on this occasion, has a greater warmth and sweetness of sound and she seems to me to offer more in the way of studied interpretations. I feel, too, that she conveys more of the music's poetry in the slow movements than Standage. Her intonation is more secure, though with artists of this calibre the matter is a marginal one, and her readings by and large have greater refinement and more delicately contrived poise. In short, Huggett's performances are, in the end, more beautiful in sound and more subtly crafted in phrase though, perhaps, at the expense of spontaneity and excitement, two qualities in which Standage excels. Take for instance, the infectious 12/8 allegro finale of the Sixth Concerto in A major (RV348) where the irrepressible high spirits of Standage and the band, together with a more convincing tempo, comfortably win the day.

In summary, here are two wonderfully imaginative accounts of La cetra with a combined wealth of ideas which make each one indispensable to me. The reflective and introspective NA inclines strongly towards Monica Huggett's playing whilst the passionate, excitable part of him responds to Simon Standage. There is hardly a moment of routine playing from soloist or orchestra in either of them.

N.A., Gramophone.net