VIVALDI Concerti for strings. Concerti for viola d'amore
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Antonio Vivaldi
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Naïve
Magazine Review Date: 08/2018
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: OP30570
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Strings |
Antonio Vivaldi, Composer
Accademia Bizantina Antonio Vivaldi, Composer Ottavio Dantone |
Concerto for Strings, 'Conca' |
Antonio Vivaldi, Composer
Accademia Bizantina Antonio Vivaldi, Composer Ottavio Dantone, Conductor |
Concerto for Viola d'amore and Strings |
Antonio Vivaldi, Composer
Accademia Bizantina Alessandro Tampieri, Viola d amore Antonio Vivaldi, Composer Ottavio Dantone, Conductor |
Author: Richard Wigmore
Propelled by the percussively inventive continuo, thrumming archlute and Baroque guitar to the fore, Dantone and his Italian band are on cracking form. Some may raise an eyebrow at the exaggerated dynamic contrasts, the frequent swellings and ebbings and the unprovoked assaults on strong beats. But heightened theatricality, in slow movements as well as fast, is surely what this music is all about. Nor is there a want of poetry where apt. Violinist Alessandro Tampieri spins an eloquent cantilena in the Andantes of RV167 and RV163, while the drifting harmonies in the ‘lagoon’ movements have a mesmeric hushed intensity.
Tampieri also excels in five of Vivaldi’s viola d’amore concertos, probably composed for the Pietà’s famous Anna Maria, though the composer was reportedly a dab hand at the instrument himself. Dantone and his players ensure that Vivaldi’s elemental, explosive energy is never short-changed. Tampieri dispatches the reams of bravura passagework with fire and grace, and adds his own entertaining, even crazy cadenzas that exploit the deep, buzzy resonance of the viola d’amore’s sympathetic strings. But this flavoursome instrument also inspired music of reflective delicacy, not only in the slow movements (among which RV394’s floating siciliano is a highlight) but also in Allegros like the first movement of RV397 and the finale of the airy A major Concerto, RV396. In fantasy, caprice and sheer virtuosity Tampieri is at least a match for his fellow Italian Fabio Biondi (Virgin, 11/07).
It seems churlish to end with a gripe. Why, though, do Naïve include only five of the six viola d’amore concertos on the second disc (running to just 48 minutes), when there would have been room to spare for the sixth, plus the delectable concerto for viola d’amore and lute?
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