Viva Vivaldi!

[Opus106]

Elena Barshai (also on Brilliant Classics) would be a very good alternative IMHO:


http://www.amazon.com/12-Organ-Concertos-After-Vivaldi/dp/B000BSNOY0

Thanks for the link. I think Brilliant may have removed that recording from their catalogue, because for a long time I have only been able to find her Goldbergs when searching for her recordings. Before I got the Koopman(s - Koopmen?), this was high on the wishlist.

[mszczuj]

QS? I prefer this - probably little less known:

[asin]B001ANZRO0[/asin]

[nico1616]

I own a lot of Vivaldi opera recordings. They need world class singers to come off and when they do, his operas are highlights of the Baroque repertoire.

The best ïn the Naïve series are Orlando Furioso and Tito Manlio. Griselda, Ottone in Villa, La verito in cimento and L'Olympiade are not in that league, but certainly very good.
La fida Ninfa and Atenaide are disappointing because of weak singing of Sandrine Piau in the title role. Orlando Finto Pazzo has mostly mediocre singers.

The Virgin Bajazet is top, maybe the absolute number 1 in this repertoire. Superb direction by Biondi and a dreamcast of singers: David Daniels, Marijana Mijanovic, Vivica Genaux to name a few.
The Montezuma on Archiv is also very impressive, but I skip some overtly long recitatives here.

Two other recent Virgin recordings are also great: Farnace and Ercole Sul Termodonte.

It is really a golden time for Vivaldi opera 

[xochitl]

kickass?

[kishnevi]

kickass?

If it's the one I'm thinking of,   the most interesting thing in that recording (and the interest can wear off very rapidly) is the fake Vivaldi concerto by Kreisler.

[The new erato]

I own a lot of Vivaldi opera recordings. They need world class singers to come off and when they do, his operas are highlights of the Baroque repertoire.

The best ïn the Naïve series are Orlando Furioso and Tito Manlio. Griselda, Ottone in Villa, La verito in cimento and L'Olympiade are not in that league, but certainly very good.
La fida Ninfa and Atenaide are disappointing because of weak singing of Sandrine Piau in the title role. Orlando Finto Pazzo has mostly mediocre singers.

The Virgin Bajazet is top, maybe the absolute number 1 in this repertoire. Superb direction by Biondi and a dreamcast of singers: David Daniels, Marijana Mijanovic, Vivica Genaux to name a few.
The Montezuma on Archiv is also very impressive, but I skip some overtly long recitatives here.

Two other recent Virgin recordings are also great: Farnace and Ercole Sul Termodonte.

It is really a golden time for Vivaldi opera 

I have them all, and now there's a new one with Biondi on the way:



Look under new releases on mdt!

[The new erato]

Somebody's been hard at work moderating threads!

[nico1616]

I have them all, and now there's a new one with Biondi on the way:



Look under new releases on mdt!

My next Vivaldi purchase, thanks 

[Karl Henning]

Will load Le quattro stagioni in the car soon, request from the birthday girl.

[Karl Henning]

... Anything and everything by Carmignola, including what he recorded before he started in with Archiv/DGG.

I've not been through the whole with anything like a proper listen, but in tagging the Warner reissue box of all the works w/ opus numbers, I noticed that Carmignola frequently plies his bow there.

Quick back-of-the-envelope thought on this box is: some initial disappointments, but much that is at least serviceably good (and often rather better).

[Leo K.]

Recently discovered a very impressive Four Seasons, with Nils-Erik Sparf and the Drottingham Baroque Ensemble on BIS.



Which is also included in this 100 track collection, an amazing collection of full Vivaldi works (The "Rise of the Masters" series) got for cheap in the Amazon Mp3 store. The cover is god-awful funny, but don't let this fool ya, I believe the recordings are all from BIS catalogue. I'm just going through the set. It's fantastic for $1.99.



This Four Seasons is all topped by BIS' "original dynamics recording" which will absolutely blow you away. In the mood for an incredible Four Seasons? This one is almost mood-altering. The quality of the performance: It is very exact, clean, and interpreted just a bit differently than other versions. Sparf's Four Seasons isn't flashy or gimmicky, it's just the Four Season's like you've never heard it. It's an original instrument recording, right down to the use of the Baroque (fretted) violin and even a little pipe organ. What makes this CD unforgettable, however, is that shape the space between the notes. The recording is superb. The ambiance is natural and the sense of presence is palpable. This is reference. The music is powerful without being over the top. There is momentum, gusto and delicacy. These musicians sound at their best. There is great delicacy in the first movement of summer. There is great care in the phrasing of the violin solos in every movement.

[huntsman]

Le Quattro Stagioni is probably the piece of music that really cemented in my youthful brain (many years ago) that I loved all forms of beautiful music, including classical.

I plan to read through these composer pages, but would love to know if there is any consensus as to who has the finest recordings?

The one I bought was by von Karajan and to be perfectly honest, I have never listened to another version in its entirety..! I adore the HvK, and would be over the moon to find something even better. 

[AnthonyAthletic]

The one I bought was by von Karajan and to be perfectly honest, I have never listened to another version in its entirety..! I adore the HvK, and would be over the moon to find something even better. 

The one with Michael Schwalbe?

Glorious tone, vibrantly played...very moving.

Nils Eric Sparf on BIS is a favourite of mine, a real powerful performance and a deep rich bowing method, really superb.

[North Star]

Le Quattro Stagioni is probably the piece of music that really cemented in my youthful brain (many years ago) that I loved all forms of beautiful music, including classical.

I plan to read through these composer pages, but would love to know if there is any consensus as to who has the finest recordings?

The one I bought was by von Karajan and to be perfectly honest, I have never listened to another version in its entirety..! I adore the HvK, and would be over the moon to find something even better. 

My favourites are Biondi & Europa Galante (1st recording) and Midori Seiler & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. They're certainly something very different compared to Karajan.
[asin]B004V4GXUM[/asin][asin]B002WEC76M[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Le Quattro Stagioni is probably the piece of music that really cemented in my youthful brain (many years ago) that I loved all forms of beautiful music, including classical.

I plan to read through these composer pages, but would love to know if there is any consensus as to who has the finest recordings?

The one I bought was by von Karajan and to be perfectly honest, I have never listened to another version in its entirety..! I adore the HvK, and would be over the moon to find something even better. 

My favorite Four Seasons is still Gil Shaham's with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra:

[jlaurson]

Le Quattro Stagioni is probably the piece of music that really cemented in my youthful brain (many years ago) that I loved all forms of beautiful music, including classical.
I plan to read through these composer pages, but would love to know if there is any consensus as to who has the finest recordings?
The one I bought was by von Karajan and to be perfectly honest, I have never listened to another version in its entirety..! I adore the HvK, and would be over the moon to find something even better. 

Consensus? Wrong forum. I did a "Library Building" bit for WETA years ago, where I actually listened to upward of a 50 recordings in a short span. Never again. But two clear winners emerged, actually. The beginning (and the winners) are still readable here: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2007/08/four-hundred-seasons-or-392-too-many.html
Also: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/05/who-needs-four-seasons.html

[North Star]

Consensus? Wrong forum. I did a "Library Building" bit for WETA years ago, where I actually listened to upward of a 50 recordings in a short span. Never again. But two clear winners emerged, actually. The beginning (and the winners) are still readable here: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2007/08/four-hundred-seasons-or-392-too-many.html
Also: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/05/who-needs-four-seasons.html

Surely you mean third and not quarter, Jens?

("complete" being relative: The "Four Seasons" is simply the first and famous quarter of the 12 concerto op.8 cycle "Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione")

[Karl Henning]

Subset might be more elegant. (I know, everybody's a critic . . . .)

[Gurn Blanston]

Consensus? Wrong forum. I did a "Library Building" bit for WETA years ago, where I actually listened to upward of a 50 recordings in a short span. Never again. But two clear winners emerged, actually. The beginning (and the winners) are still readable here: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2007/08/four-hundred-seasons-or-392-too-many.html
Also: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/05/who-needs-four-seasons.html

If I was picking one of each, I could easily live with those choices. They are well up in my favorites (Top 5). So is the one that you show third. However, Biondi's first version is the best for me. It is just perfect, IMO. 

[jlaurson]

Surely you mean third and not quarter, Jens?

Subset might be more elegant. (I know, everybody's a critic . . . .)

Bastards, both of you.  But wait. If you look at the thing... WHAT MISTAKE!?!