Vivaldi's vocal music

[Elgarian]

boxset mania

That's the name for it alright! Sometimes I feel as if I'm on a train that's out of control.

[DarkAngel]

Elgarian
We have struck gold with this generous King boxset of sacred Vivaldi treasures, have been through Volumes 1-5 and have nothing but praise for both singers and sound quality, a great find! It has also prompted me to add a couple more HIP Glorias to my collection, Alessandrini & Pinnock:

[DarkAngel]

Also not to slight my beloved baroque secular divas I placed order for these two new releases.
Vivica Genaux is an established Vivaldi specialist and here with Fabio Biondi she seems to surpass the earlier Farinelli disc with Rene Jacobs, has the castratti vocal range with low mezzo tones all the way up to high soprano with daring agile ornamentation capabilities.........can't wait to hear this.

I was not really impressed with Bartoli's first Vivaldi disc 1999 for Decca, but she has really upped her technical capabilities since then, now ready for all out assault on the extremely difficult world of baroque da capo arias.
I of course opted for the deluxe 2 disc  edition with all the goodies, order placed 

Interesting cover photo of Bartoli imitating a marble statue..............?

[Elgarian]

Elgarian
We have struck gold with this generous King boxset of sacred Vivaldi treasures, have been through Volumes 1-5 and have nothing but praise for both singers and sound quality, a great find!

Oh that's great to hear, DA. I'd have been very surprised if you'd found it not to your liking, but of course one can never be quite sure about these things. Great treasure indeed.

[Coopmv]

Oh that's great to hear, DA. I'd have been very surprised if you'd found it not to your liking, but of course one can never be quite sure about these things. Great treasure indeed.

I have played 2 CD's from this set.  I am enjoying my only HIP Vivaldi Sacred Works recordings so far. 

[DarkAngel]

Elgarian
We have struck gold with this generous King boxset of sacred Vivaldi treasures, have been through Volumes 1-5 and have nothing but praise for both singers and sound quality, a great find!

The chaps at Hyperion just to confound me made the box for Vivaldi sacred works slightly oversive compared to other boxsets.........required special adjustment of my Vivaldi shelf in cd storage system   

[Elgarian]

The chaps at Hyperion just to confound me made the box for Vivaldi sacred works slightly oversive compared to other boxsets.........required special adjustment of my Vivaldi shelf in cd storage system   

Of course it could be that all the other box sets are slightly too small ....

One thing I haven't done yet is compare King's Juditha with the de Marchi version on Naive. The two Juditha CDs are the only ones in the box I haven't listened to yet. I think I put it off because I half-expected to be disappointed, after hearing Kozena sing the role...

[DarkAngel]

One thing I haven't done yet is compare King's Juditha with the de Marchi version on Naive. The two Juditha CDs are the only ones in the box I haven't listened to yet. I think I put it off because I half-expected to be disappointed, after hearing Kozena sing the role...

As soon as I finish my listen of complete boxset I was planning on pulling out the Naive "Juditha" and see how it compares to Hyperion version.......Naive uses 3CDs compared to 2CDs for Hyperion, total times:

Naive - 159 minutes + 7 minutes for 2 bonus tracks
Hyperion - 148 minutes

[DarkAngel]

Looks like I will have two "juditha triumphans" since the King boxset includes one for volumes IV & V

Was able to compare these two versions with interesting results. Even though the Naive version has slower overall times, it sounds more dramatic with De Marchi accenting rythms more agressively in the Italian style while King has a more constant rythmic pattern. The harpsicord continuo also more prominent in Naive especially during da capo arias.

You will also notice that singers for De Marchi use a more aggressive overall ornamentation, especially Konzena. The Naive sound also emphasizes this effect with very detailed solo perspectives. The Hyperion sound is more evenly balanced sympathetic to the singers style and Kings tempo choices........for sacred works this is very effective as a certain reverence is captured. But for secular works I prefer the Naive sound and singing style, just more exciting overall which I prefer

[knight66]

Dark Angel, I would be very interested to know your views on this one once you get a chance...


I might buy it, but I don't know this singer's work.

Mike

[DarkAngel]

Dark Angel, I would be very interested to know your views on this one once you get a chance...


I might buy it, but I don't know this singer's work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpIRFiKTqo

This video also with Biondi from her sessions for complete Bajazet opera are representative of style on this CD which is a selection of the more daring castrati arias from various Vivaldi operas.........as on the Naive opera series Biondi encourages an expressive freedom for singers to provide inspired ornamentation, Vivica has a nice rich mezzo base from which to launch her vocal flights.....   

[knight66]

Thanks for that. I have been not untypically stupid. I have the Bajazet set. I have not listened to it more than a couple of times. I recalled Daniels, D'Arcangelo and Ciofi. Genaux did not register. But I am now prompted to get it off the shelf, right now and have a listen.

Mike

[Que]

Thanks for that. I have been not untypically stupid. I have the Bajazet set. I have not listened to it more than a couple of times. I recalled Daniels, D'Arcangelo and Ciofi. Genaux did not register. But I am now prompted to get it off the shelf, right now and have a listen.

Mike

FWIW I enjoyed this disc by her quite a lot.



Q

[knight66]

Thanks, I have several times been tempted by that one.

Mike

[DarkAngel]

Kevin Mallon is currently recording a lot of baroque vocal works on Naxos, has three volumes of Vivaldi sacred works and I can tell you they competetive with any version out there at a fraction of the cost, I have all three. 

[DarkAngel]

Also must mention I have been busy buying all Vivaldi performances of Gloria I can find and was surprised to find that Parrott/Virgin is my favorite........
I am not a Parrott fan and find his Bach work not that inspiring, but this CD is a "glorious" rendition and the sound quality best I have heard with extemely deep soundstage projected, very cheap at Amazon, essential Vivaldi sacred works CD

[haydnguy]

Kevin Mallon is currently recording a lot of baroque vocal works on Naxos, has three volumes of Vivaldi sacred works and I can tell you they competetive with any version out there at a fraction of the cost, I have all three. 

Thanks for pointing these out, DarkAngel. I have been wanting Vivaldi's sacred works but didn't want to pay what the other sets cost. 

[kishnevi]

I have two of the three Naxos discs, and while they are good I rate them lower than some other recordings I have of the same works. 

I have both the Genaux albums, and find them very well done.    There's also a CD featuring Simone Kermes with Venice Baroque Orchestra (Andrea Marcon cond.) called Amor Sacro, containing four motets, which is very well done (on Archiv). 

My favorite sacred Vivaldi is the fabricated cycle Concerto Italiano did for Naive under the title "Vespri per l'Assunzione", which contains a heapful of psalm settings, the Magnificat, etc, arranged with some instrumental V. and gregorian chant to approximate an 18th century Venetian vesper service.

[Que]

Also must mention I have been busy buying all Vivaldi performances of Gloria I can find and was surprised to find that Parrott/Virgin is my favorite........
I am not a Parrott fan and find his Bach work not that inspiring, but this CD is a "glorious" rendition and the sound quality best I have heard with extemely deep soundstage projected, very cheap at Amazon, essential Vivaldi sacred works CD

Note that Alessandrini just redid his interpretation - and surprisingly the intro is no longer at breathless speed!


                           ~ jpc ~

Q

[DarkAngel]

My favorite sacred Vivaldi is the fabricated cycle Concerto Italiano did for Naive under the title "Vespri per l'Assunzione", which contains a heapful of psalm settings, the Magnificat, etc, arranged with some instrumental V. and gregorian chant to approximate an 18th century Venetian vesper service.

I somehow negelected to get this even though seems I have almost everything else in the Vivaldi Naive series, just assumed I already owned it but when I went to fetch it from collection it was not there.
Order has been placed for the special digibook edition.......