I Musici: Vivaldi – 9 Concertos (FLAC)

Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
Performer: I Musici
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks+cue)
Label: Philips
Size: 215 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no

# Concerto for strings & continuo in G minor, RV 152
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in B flat major, RV 166
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in D minor, RV 127
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in G major, RV 145
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in D major, RV 121
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in E minor, RV 133
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in A minor, RV 161
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto for strings & continuo in F major, RV 142
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

# Concerto alla rustica, for strings & continuo in G major, RV 151
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with I Musici

9 Vivaldian masterpieces

These are nine splendid, vivacious examples of the genre from Vivaldi. These short movements express much in just around a minute each. Each one represents a different mood.

Compared with other concertos of the time (e.g., solo concerti, concerto grossi, chamber concerti), this type (which was really called concerto a quarto or cinque) was really sought after in its time, but went out of fashion in the 1710s. Of these, Vivaldi wrote 44 specimens, not including around 20 sinfonias, which were written basically for the same type of ensemble (all strings, no soloists) with basso continuo.

This recording wonderfully captures the spirit of the early eighteenth-century. One can really hear the passion with which the ensemble performs these magnificent, dainty little pieces. Although they are largely overshadowed by the much more famous, published cycles like L’Estro Armonico or the Four Seasons, this set is yet another proof of the great variety of styles which existed in the Baroque period.