Viva Vivaldi!

[North Star]

Is this work OOP, perhaps? I cannot seem to find a copy...

[asin]B0000206A4[/asin]

[huntsman]

Aha!

Muchas Gracias, Amigo...

[TheGSMoeller]

[asin]B0000206A4[/asin]

A fantastic disc, for both works!

[Octave]

Nobody asked for this, but since I muddled away some time figuring out that I did not own all the (earlier, ~1990s) Vivaldi recordings of Il Giardino Armonico, I thought the effort might be useful to some other poor compulsive soul, somewhere, sometime.  Here is the IGA retrospective box I bought (11cd):

[asin]B000FQITXE[/asin]

But there are two (identical?) 4cd editions of their Vivaldi concertos etc, both apparently (?) OOP and now a bit expensive.  (Edit: no, not necessarily; the second, Das Alte Werk one below is cheaper from European sources, it seems.)

Old edition:
[asin]B000009JWQ[/asin]

Newer edition (Warner France) [actually maybe not newer, Amazon lists its release date as 2002, with the release date of the white Teldec box above being 2002....go figure]:
[asin]B000050G5M[/asin]

It looks like it might be cheaper to buy the four individuals discs now, at least in the USA.  Amazon reviewer Discophage seems to only link the old single-disc editions in his reviews of the old and newer Teldec 4cd boxes (above), so I will go ahead and provide links to the newer Teldec/Warner individual volume reissue, below.

Here, at a careless glance via Amazon, are the concerti/pieces which were included in those 4cd editions, but are missing from the 11cd Warner box.  Yes, I have time on my hands, apparently.

RV90; RV435; RV101; RV87; RV103; RV88; RV95; RV100; RV97; RV106; RV86; RV91; RV99; RV53; RV92; RV105

And here are (afaik) the four volumes that make up those 4cd editions that Gordo mentioned above:

[asin]B000V1V0XO[/asin]
[asin]B0012GSKBW[/asin]
[asin]B001OBVA30[/asin]
[asin]B0033C9ZM6[/asin]

So much for me getting a great deal on the 11cd box!   

But this single disc of lute/mandolin concerti is included in its entirety in the 11cd box:

[asin]B000V1V0XE[/asin]

[Que]

Thoughts on this?  I haven't been able to find any info on it.

It is a perfect disc. Really, how could have this fly under my radar of so long? 
I guess it being hard to find has something to do with it... And for some reason I associated the cover with concerto recordings...weird...

But anyway, here are presented five violin sonatas with harpsichord and cello accompaniment from Dresden, taken there by Johann Pisendel who studied with Vivaldi and became his lifelong friend.
Vivaldi wrote these probably in the early and mid 1710s. Beautiful stuff: elegant and more than just virtuosic, in sublime performances by Biondi et all. They do not overdo the virtuosic aspects - very intense and focused readings.

This disc is perfecly complementary to the set with sonatas that Biondi and Alessandrini did before on ARCANA - that set is as strongly recommended:

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Oh, and it hard to find the Dresden sonatas recording - this bargain set contains it together with three other recordings (in original packaging), and you might pay just for the price of a single disc...

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Q

[Pat B]

Just digging into Hogwood's Vivaldi concertos with the AAM. Wonderful music making!  How do you think Hogwood's interpretations compare to the more recent efforts from the Naive label? 

I have a very small sampling of Naive - that is why I asked. Hogwood is not as fast-paced and energetic, but has a sparkly tone of melancholy - kind of like enjoying a cold glass of white wine while being out in the sparkling sun surrounded by the growth of spring knowing that it is not everlasting.  Time will continue!  Naive (so far) has a brisk energetic pace (a bit too brisk for me), but I have barely touched the surface of the Naive recordings. I guess brisk Vivaldi is the thing nowadays....?

I am almost through the AAM box. My only Vivaldi on Naïve is the 4-disc Fabio Biondi-Europa Galante set. My impression is that AAM is a bit more austere, and Europa Galante is more freewheeling. Both are very good in their ways. Another excellent option in the latter vein (and I might even say a bit folky at times) is Il Giardino Armonico, whose Warner set has 4 discs of Vivaldi plus 7 more discs -- a great value.

The Europa Galante and Il Giardino Armonico sets have been discussed above, but I'm bumping this for Moonfish.

[asin]B004V4GXUM[/asin]
[asin]B000FQITXE[/asin]

[Ken B]

I am almost through the AAM box. My only Vivaldi on Naïve is the 4-disc Fabio Biondi-Europa Galante set. My impression is that AAM is a bit more austere, and Europa Galante is more freewheeling. Both are very good in their ways. Another excellent option in the latter vein (and I might even say a bit folky at times) is Il Giardino Armonico, whose Warner set has 4 discs of Vivaldi plus 7 more discs -- a great value.

The Europa Galante and Il Giardino Armonico sets have been discussed above, but I'm bumping this for Moonfish.

[asin]B004V4GXUM[/asin]
[asin]B000FQITXE[/asin]

I can second the praise for Giardino. An excellent set.

[DavidW]

I got the big Hogwood box set, and digging in I love what I hear!

[kishnevi]

Posting part of what I posted in the Purchases thread here, so it remains more readily available to any future inquiries

Landed today: the book / CD from Donna Leon and Complesso Barocco
Venetian Curiosities

Literary contents are seven short essays,  totally about 60 short pages
Musical contents, all concertos, recorded specifically for this project.

For violin in e minor "Il Favorito"  RV 277
For cello in C major RV 398
For oboe and bassoon in G major RV 545
For bassoon in F major RV 489
For strings in d minor "Il Madrigalesco" RV 129
For oboe in C major RV 448
For violin in b minor RV 386

Soloists
Riccardo Minasi, violin RV 277 (and concertmaster for the full CD)
Dmitry Sinkovsky, violin RV 386
Marco Ceccato, cello RV 398
Patrick Beaugiraud,  oboe RV 545 and RV 448
Carlos Cristobal, bassoon RV 545 and RV 489
solo/continuo grouping for RV 129
violins Riccardo Minasi and Guadalupe del Moral
viola Guilio D'Alessi
cello Marco Ceccato
double bass Riccardo Coelati Rama
harpsichord  Andrea Perugi

Recorded at Villa San Fermo, Lonigo, in January 2010 

[Brahmsian]

It will be a Vivaldi Sunday!   

Haven't listened to Vivaldi in over two years.  My listening will include 4 discs of violin concertos (L'Estro Armonico & La Stravaganza), courtesy of gifts from Harry across the pond in the Netherlands! 

[Que]

It will be a Vivaldi Sunday!   

Haven't listened to Vivaldi in over two years.  My listening will include 4 discs of violin concertos (L'Estro Armonico & La Stravaganza), courtesy of gifts from Harry across the pond in the Netherlands! 

It is going to be an invigorating experience, I suspect.   At least, that is the effect Vivaldi usually has on me.

Q

[Brahmsian]

It is going to be an invigorating experience, I suspect.   At least, that is the effect Vivaldi usually has on me.

Q

A few minutes in and it is exactly as you put it! 

[Karl Henning]

It will be a Vivaldi Sunday!   

Haven't listened to Vivaldi in over two years.  My listening will include 4 discs of violin concertos (L'Estro Armonico & La Stravaganza), courtesy of gifts from Harry across the pond in the Netherlands! 

Who are the performers, Ray?

[Brahmsian]

Who are the performers, Ray?

Bonjour, Karl! 

I Musici are the performers.  They are excellent, courtesy of Harry's Refusal Bin, a number of years ago. 

[king ubu]

Thanks to Octave for the details regarding the Giardino Armonico box! I had actually struck it from my shopping list as I've got the four Vivaldi discs, as well as the wonderful "Musica da camera a Napoli". But in light of so many concertos from the Vivaldi discs being absent from the box, it seems like there's a lot less duplication than I'd thought. Also I love this ensemble a lot, so ...

There is, btw, to make things even more confusing, a new (2013) edition of the 4CD box as well (no idea about booklet or any details):

[asin]B00CSBNOWA[/asin]
Best price seems to be here:
http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00CSBNOWA/

[Jo498]

The four volumes of chamber concerti are included in those different 4-CD-Boxes. But only about one disc's worth (which was also available as a single disc) is included in the Giardino retrospective box. If you like the music (I actually tend to prefer some of these chamber concerti to the better known violin concerti) it is worth while getting all of them, whatever is the cheaper option.
(To make things even more confusing there exists an older recording with Giardino of bunch of chamber concerti for some Italian label that was included in one or several of Brilliant Classics Vivaldi sets.)

[Que]

I think I sould alert fellow Vivaldians of a great opportunity in regards to Naïve's ongoing series.

Previously Naïve issued boxsets with some of the opera's - in pretty inconvenient and ugly packaging and IMO no competion for the individual issues with beautiful booklets. Then some cardboard-wrap boxsets appeared that sometimes included individual issues from the Vivaldi series,  one called "Magnificat" an example in case.

Now , it seems that Naïve bundled in that way severall individual concerto discs from the series. Six (or five, when a non-series disc is included) for the price of two! 

Unless you -like me (!)  - already got suckered into buying the majority of these discs individually,  this is your chance to scoop these up as a bargain and catch up with the series.

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BTW, also a mixed vocal recitals/opera set:

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As a reminder here is the sacred music box set:

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And one more:

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Q

[Madiel]

Ooh, interesting. So if I understand this right, it's basically the original single CD releases, with their booklets/packaging, put together in a box? Nice.

[kishnevi]

Unless you -like me (!)  - already got suckered into buying the majority of these discs individually,  this is your chance to scoop these up as a bargain and catch up with the series.


Q

Or like me, have every individual issue!

There is in truth not one CD in the series I do not like.

[Que]

Or like me, have every individual issue!

There is in truth not one CD in the series I do not like.

Same here. 

Given the number and range in repertoire of the recordings, the overall quality is exceptional and might be unparalleled.

Q