Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
Performer: Brecon Baroque
Conductor: Rachel Podger
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Channel Classics
Release: 2015
Size: 4.13 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Brecon Baroque:
Rachel Podger violin/director
Bojan Čičić violin
Johannes Pramsohler violin
Sabine Stoffer violin
Janes Rogers viola
Ricardo Cuende Isuskiza viola
Alison McGillivray violoncello
Jan Spencer violone
Daniele Caminiti theorbo
David Miller theorbo/guitar
Marcin Świątkiewicz
L’Estro Armonico (Harmonic Inspiration), Op. 3 (1711)
Concerto No. 1 in D Major
01. Allegro
02. Largo e spiccato
03. Allegro
Concerto No. 2 in G minor
04. Adagio e spiccato Allegro
05. Larghetto
06. Allegro
Concerto No. 3 in G Major
07. Allegro
08. Largo
09. Allegro
Concerto No. 4 in E Minor
10. Andante
11. Allegro assai
12. Adagio – Allegro
Concerto No. 5 in A Major
13. Allegro
14. Largo
15. Allegro
Concerto No. 6 in A minor
16. Allegro
17. Largo
18. Presto
Concerto No. 7 in F Major
19. Andante
20. Adagio
21. Adagio – Allegro
Concerto No. 8 in A Minor
22. Allegro
23. Larghetto e spiritoso
24. Allegro
Concerto No. 9 in D Major
25. Allegro
26. Larghetto
27. Allegro
Concerto No. 10 in B Minor
28. Allegro
29. Largo
30. allegro
Concerto No. 11 in D Minor
31. Allegro – Adagio
32. Largo e spiccato
33. Allegro
Concerto No. 12 in E Major
34. Allegro
35. Largo
36. Allegro
Vivaldi has, above all, always struck me as wonderfully entertaining. His musical shapes and figurations seem to exist in order to please and surprise. Always supremely idiomatic (although sometimes idiosyncratically specific), there’s also that sense of directing a sensation with a particular person in mind. In the 12 Concertos which comprise ‘L’Estro Armonico’, these qualities abound, not least because Vivaldi appears to have taken extraordinary trouble to exhibit his craft to the world, almost as a way of ‘setting out a stall’ for how a new 18thcentury concerto could now be written in the right hands. Underpinning Vivaldi’s flair, originality and meticulous attention to detail is an engine room of momentum: raw energy is regularly the order of the day with muscular layers of semiquavers and rapid acrobatics passed between the various configurations of soloists. These pieces are truly exhilarating to play and perform and their fresh impact never fails to hit some target or other, judging by the reaction of a live audience. Not often do you witness four violins trying to outdo each other! During Brecon Baroque’s concerts preceding the recording, the rapierlike turns in musical conversations between the four parts always seemed to lead to added expectation and excitement – all the more effective because of the contrasted moments of deep melancholy which Vivaldi some how manages to express irrespective of mode; like Schubert, a major key can be just as poignant and affecting as a minor in a conceit of sadness or loss. For example, in the slow movements of Concertos nos. 9 and 12 in D and E major respectively, there is an exquisite tenderness in his writing, something fragile, innocent and temporary; I catch myself wondering for whom these moments were created… I would like to thank all my wonderful colleagues for these many intense moments of energy, tenderness and joy while performing and recording these fantastic concertos – works which intrigued Bach and from which he mined so many of the very finest Vivaldian attributes.