Viva Vivaldi!

[brewski]

For anyone interested, here's an article I wrote for WRTI on Juditha Triumphans, the Vivaldi oratorio about Judith and Holofernes, which is being performed next week by Tempesta di Mare in Philadelphia. Writing about Vivaldi and early music is a bit off my usual beat, but I'm quite pleased with how it came out.

Looking forward to hearing the performance, too.

-Bruce

[ritter]

Very interesting article, Bruce!

Not on the same level, of course, but Vivaldi is off my usual best as well, and by pure coincidence I listened to some music of his today, for the first time in many years. 

[brewski]

Very interesting article, Bruce!

Not on the same level, of course, but Vivaldi is off my usual as well, and by pure coincidence I listened to some music of his today, for the first time in many years. 

Thank you, and...Gloria! I will check out that recording, since that was one of the first Vivaldi pieces that I really loved. My go-to has been Rinaldo Alessandrini's lightning version, but I'd love to hear this one, too.

-Bruce

[ritter]

Thank you, and...Gloria! I will check out that recording, since that was one of the first Vivaldi pieces that I really loved. My go-to has been Rinaldo Alessandrini's lightning version, but I'd love to hear this one, too.

-Bruce

Brace yourself for that one, Bruce! The chorus sound as if they were in Nabucco, not singing Vivaldi! 

[brewski]

Brace yourself for that one, Bruce! The chorus sound as if they were in Nabucco, not singing Vivaldi! 

Nabucco     

-Bruce

[Brian]

Just got an email that Navona Records will be releasing the first-ever complete cycle of all Vivaldi's piccolo concertos. Someone has to be interested in that, right? 

[Todd]

Someone has to be interested in that, right?

Anna Leigh Waters is ecstatic. 

[JBS]

Just got an email that Navona Records will be releasing the first-ever complete cycle of all Vivaldi's piccolo concertos. Someone has to be interested in that, right? 

Well this is interesting.
Amazon lists two different CDs of "the piccolo concertos" conducted by Rampal but filled out by other couplings. There are only 4 concertos.


And this one

And this one which uses recorders

Plus one on BIS that is titled "The Three Piccolo Concertos" and is filled out by a Bach Overture.
And I seem to remember a Naxos CD. So what does this one have that the others don't?

[Karl Henning]

Well this is interesting. Amazon lists two different CDs of "the piccolo concertos" conducted by Rampal but filled out by other couplings. There are only 4 concertos.

In an era when it may have partly been a novelty, Lenny recorded RV 443 in C.

[JBS]

After further digging [this is what happens when I don't have enough chores to do on my day off] it seems Brian missed the operative phrase

Jennifer Bouton's VIVALDI PICCOLO CONCERTOS is the first complete recording of the concerti by an American piccoloist.

Ms. Bouton recorded the three concertos RV443-445, but not the flute concerto Rampal/Beaumadier recorded. In partial compensation there is a transcription of a Paganini caprice. It must be a very short CD, under 40 minutes.

CD image


Link to the item page at the Navona website.
https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6618/

[Spenserian]

I was quite fascinated to hear of a bassoonist who sleeps with the scores of the Vivaldi bassoon concertos next to him in a BBC radio 3 interview with Susan Orlando of the Naive Vivaldi edition, but it has made me wonder if anyone can recommend recordings of the concertos? I have only the Naive Vivaldi edition ones, it turns out, whereas I have duplicates of other concertos.

[Florestan]

I was quite fascinated to hear of a bassoonist who sleeps with the scores of the Vivaldi bassoon concertos next to him in a BBC radio 3 interview with Susan Orlando of the Naive Vivaldi edition, but it has made me wonder if anyone can recommend recordings of the concertos? I have only the Naive Vivaldi edition ones, it turns out, whereas I have duplicates of other concertos.

[DavidW]

I've been inspired to give these concertos a fresh listen.  I chose

[Madiel]

I was always under the impression that the Naive Vivaldi series was highly regarded for the bassoon concertos.

[Spenserian]

Oh yes, the Naive are very good, but I love comparing in Vivaldi, some really go at it differently. I've placed an order for the Dervaux and the complete Daniel Smith set thank you!

[brewski]

Vivaldi fans, this is off to a pretty exhilarating start. Never heard the Bach Society (founded in 1932), but liking their period instrument sound and lively tempi. So far, so good.

This afternoon at 5 pm, the Bach Society of Minnesota in the mostly-Vivaldi program below, a sold-out concert in St. Paul that will be broadcast live on Minnesota Public Radio here. Bonus: my sister is in the chorus.

Vivaldi: Spring and Summer from The Four Seasons
Matthias Maute: La Primavera
Vivaldi: Autumn and Winter from The Four Seasons

Intermission

Vivaldi:
Laudate Dominum
In exitu Israel
Et in terra pax from Gloria, RV 589
Gloria, RV 588

[Madiel]

Does anyone know/have an opinion of the performances by I Musici?

I recently discovered that they did all of opuses 1 through 12, and it's been reissued as a single package.

EDIT: Oh. I gather that at least some works (like the good old Seasons) might have been recorded by them quite a few times and I have no idea which recordings are in the box set.

[Jo498]

The musici were instrumental in the popularization of Vivaldi and they were probably the standard recs (together with Marriner, of course for the Seasons there were many choices even decades ago) up to the 1980s. It's debatable and one has to try for oneself how well their style has hold up after 50+ years of HIP competition.

[Roasted Swan]

The musici were instrumental in the popularization of Vivaldi and they were probably the standard recs (together with Marriner, of course for the Seasons there were many choices even decades ago) up to the 1980s. It's debatable and one has to try for oneself how well their style has hold up after 50+ years of HIP competition.

Good playing is still good playing

[Jo498]

Sure, but would you recognize the barking dog (viola) in the Musici recording of the Seasons?
(I don't know, if I heard one of their 4S recording it must have been in the late 1980s.)