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Just wondering guys as I am ready to purchase a complete set of CDs of Vivaldi.
The Four Seasons -- that's the one hit wonder!
La Cetra -- I Solistic Veneti -- I like that one.
What else? Nothing in the repertoire seems to stand out like 'The Four Seasons'!
Follow Ups:
"La Fida Ninfa" may not be for everyone, but it's a stunning piece of work. Vivaldi was amazing -- we wrote a lot, and almost all of it is top drawer.
There are very many more exciting efforts beginning with the boxed set of the entire 'Trial Between Harmony and Invention" on Telefunken. 12 concertos, of which just four are the 4 Seasons.
Over the last three decades the Italians have begun to produce exciting ensembles who treat Vivaldi as the original and creative mind he was.
I have never found any 'I Solisti Veneti' recordings exciting or striking, something Vivaldi sought always to be.
Even with his Gloria I can name only one performance by a 'we can play anything ensemble' that is memorable.
Warmest
Timothy Bailey
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
http://www.theanalogdept.com/tim_bailey.htm
Did a search on "Dixit Dominus" which lead me to see what Presto had on offer.
Wow, an 11 CD set of ALL of Vivaldi'd choral music reduced to 63 pounds.
Better check with the Penguin Guide - yes, most discs highly praised :-)
But hang on a minute, better check with MDT.
After several attempts using their rotten search engine it was finally located and is 20 pounds less expensive!! OK the postage is more than Presto but still heaps cheaper.
Now ordered.
Viva Vivaldi!!!
John (pondering, but not very seriously, he should do something about the collecting bug infection)
Starting to exterminate the Gremlins in the system and elsewhere
They had yet to offer any kind of download and replied they were mulling the idea but as far as High Resolution they were not really sure they sounded any better than high bit rate mp3... the reply mentioned they considered using the Linn downloads site as other labels do.
I was glad to see them come this far. Maybe some more persuasive emails might move them to try producing some selection in high resolution.
I obviously did not search far enough :-( The FLAC download would have only been a few dollars more (to feed into the Sooloos system) but worth it to save the hour of burning the discs will take. The only upside of the discs is I can lend them to a music loving friend.
John
Starting to exterminate the Gremlins in the system and elsewhere
Ever see the New Yorker cartoon "Classical musical lover in Hell'? Guy's sitting in a room with a pair of high-fi speakers, and in the next room is his own private DJ (horns, cloven hooves and all) saying "And that was Pachelbel's Canon in D. And for our next track, well waddaya know! Once again, Pachelbel's Canon in D.'
♪ ♫ ♪ ♫
Some great Vivaldi recordings from Giuliano Carmignola and friends. Stravinsky never heard Vivaldi played like this.
Although there can be a certain sameness to a lot of his work, I find it to be at least entertaining most of the time. (Great music for a Sunday morning with the newspapers.) There are instrumental works, e.g., L'estro Armonica and La Stravaganza that I find at least as compelling-and less wearisome-than Four Seasons. For some of the better recordings that show some of Vivaldi's diversity I'd recommend: 1) Concert for the Prince of Poland by the Academy of Ancient Music on Harmonia Mundi; 2) La Viola da Gamba in Concerto by Jordi Savall on Alia Vox; and 3) Vivaldi for Diverse Instruments by Nicholas McGegan on Reference Recordings. All 3 are magnificently performed and, as a bonus, beautifully recorded.
I generally prefer recordings on original instruments, although this is a personal choice. I also find that many recordings by the "big names" lack dedication and intensity and seem to have been done largely as rote exercises to fill out a performer's catalog. One exception to both caveats is the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which has done excellent work over the years on modern instruments under various directors.
Vivaldi's reputation may have been damaged by the success of the Four Seasons! Don't listen to the snobs: his music is always entertaining, enjoyable and breathtakingly inventive. He may have written hundreds of concertos but (of the 40 or so I have heard), they all sound quite different. Almost any disc will be worth hearing, but my favourite Vivaldi group is Il Giardino Armonico and my favourite recording of theirs is 'Il Proteo', containing concertos with a variety of instruments. The music, performance and (Teldec) recording are all fantastic. If you check the disc on Amazon you will find 100% rave reviews and I agree with everything they say.
garf
Vivaldi wrote a great many excellent concerti for just about every instrument of the period. Definitely not a "one-hit-wonder," even if his works do not approach the level of such Baroque masters as Bach and Handel.
. . . are written to a very high standard. (There are other great concertos that he wrote too, but you should be pretty safe in sticking to the opus number collections.) I have most of these in the non-HIP performances by I Solisti Italiani on Denon. (It's getting harder and harder to find non-HIP versions of Vivaldi.) I also agree with John below that the vocal music can be beautiful and interesting. I particularly like this Naxos recording, featuring Canadian performers:
(I'm showing the DVD-Audio incarnation which I have, but I'm sure the plain old CD version is excellent too.)
Thanks for the tip Chis - looks like another to add to the collection here!
John
Starting to exterminate the Gremlins in the system and elsewhere
I figure it has something to do with using/not using period instruments, but what exactly does this acronym stand for?
Thanks.
Joe
Includes using period instruments and musicologist-approved period performance practices.
Joe
Yes, I do get a bit sick of "The Seasons" (and there are most likely more performances of it in the collection than any other single work) but like his other orchestral works despite the similarity of approach.
Recommended choral work:
* Vespri per l"Assunzione di Maria Vergine Opus 111 no OP 30383
Recommended operas:
* Bajazet Virgin classics 7243 5 45676 2 9
* Griselda Naive OP 30419 Also Naxos 8.660211-13
* Orlanmdo furioso Naive OP 30393
And if you want a dramatic illustration of a selection of choral Vivaldi, try the CD and/or DVD of Cecelia Bartoli "Viva Vivaldi". DVD is Arhaus 100 228 Cecelia gives a riveting performance - one of my favourite DVDs.
John
Starting to exterminate the Gremlins in the system and elsewhere
...but I think he's worth more attention than just one piece. Rachel Podger's recordings are worth listening to.
...on multichannel SACD is one of the best recordings ever. Five stars for sound quality & music!
Try the Gloria. My favorite performance is Shaw on Telarc.
Happy listening,
Jim
I thought Van Morrison wrote that!
Check out all these Glorias:
http://www.allmusic.com/search/track/Gloria/order:default-asc
Happy listening,
Jim
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