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C 9505/6 VIVALDI: BIZZARIE VENETIANE (2CDs) [13,99 Euro]

 
  • C 9505/6 VIVALDI: BIZZARIE VENETIANE (2CDs) [13,99 Euro]
  • C 9505/6 VIVALDI: BIZZARIE VENETIANE (2CDs) [13,99 Euro]

At the end of the 90's, the label Cantus licensed some of the best recordings by the ensemble Musica ad Rhenum, founded by great artists coming from groups like Musica Antiqua Köln, Camerata Köln or Concerto Armonico, and led by American traverso player, Jed Wentz. Now, some of those recordings have been remastered and released again by Cantus with new covers, new translations and new design, forming a series called "The Musica ad Rhenum Archives".

It has become commonplace to say that Vivaldi composed the same concerto 500 times, and to point the accusing finger of 20th century superiority at what we believe to be Vivaldi's lack of invention. It is our hope that this recording of Vivaldi's concerti will help to clear up this misunderstanding, for if any 18th-century composer proved himself capable of variety and invention not only of form but also of content, it was Vivaldi.

Some of these concerti are wild, bizarre and melancholy like the d minor Concerto RV 541 (CD1 [7-9]), with its strange harmonic progressions and its emotional and trembling second movement. Others are joyous and light-hearted, like the triple Concerto for Violin, Violoncello, Organ, Strings and Continuo in C Major, RV 554a (CD1 [13-15]), while the A Major concerto (CD 1 [1-3]) in imitation of the nightingale displays Vivaldi's sense of fun. A variety of influences make themselves felt in these pieces, the French style making a quick appearance in the otherwise very Telemannian Concerto for Violin, Organ, Strings and Continuo in F Major, RV 542 (CD 2 [24-26]), while the Spanish style prevails in the sunny and dramatic Concerto for Traverso, Organ, Strings and Continuo in F Major, RV 767 (CD 1 [22-24]). This Spanish influence can also be felt in the last movement of the Sonata for Violin, Traverso and Organ in C Major, RV 779 (CD 2 [10-13]), two movements of which contain typically Vivaldian tone painting (the bucolic second movement ends with a written-out organ cadenza representing a fierce thunderstorm, while the third movement evokes a moonlit gondola ride through Venice!).

In his unusually expressive and virtuosic concerti, Vivaldi strove not only to captivate his audience by means of ever new and surprising musical sensations, but also to sweep them, with his extremely passionate instrumental style, into the most diverse and contradictory of emotional states. This vehement style caused a kind of a musical landslide, not only in the rest of Europe, but in Venice itself, where the music of il prete rosso had, accordding to Pompeo Gherardo Molmenti, 'a powerful effect on soft and sensitive souls. Contemporaries bear witness that many a woman burst into sobs and tears on hearing his music, and went into a state of ecstasy.' In September 1728 no one less than the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI met the internationally famed music phenomenon Vivaldi. This meeting between emperor and composer caused the Abbé Conti to remark: 'The emperor spoke with Vivaldi a long time about music. It's said that he told him more in two weeks than his ministers in two years.'

Antonio Vivaldi: Bizzarie Venetiane

  • Cantus Records licensed, at the end of the 90's, some of the best recordings by the ensemble Musica ad Rhenum, founded by great artists coming from groups like Musica Antiqua Köln, Camerata Köln or Concerto Armonico, and led by American traverso player, Jed Wentz. Now, some of those recordings have been remastered and released again by Cantus with new covers, new translations and new design, forming a series called "The Musica ad Rhenum Archives"
  • Musica ad Rhenum - on period instruments

    Director artístico: Jed Wentz

    Soloists:

    Jed Wentz, traverso

    Manfred Kraemer, baroque violin

    Balász Maté, baroque cello

    Marcelo Bussi, organ

    Peter Holtslag, recorder

    Marion Moonen, traverso

    Gustavo Zarba, baroque violin

    Tutti Manfred Kraemer, Gustavo Zarba, Laura Johnson, Rob Diggins, Anton Steck, Christoph Mayer, Wanda Wisser, Elizabeth Smalt, Balász Maté, Christian Niedling, Job ter Haar, Tis Marang, Marc Wolff, Marcelo Bussi, Sébastien Guillot.

Additional information

  • Total time CD1 73:06 & CD2 72:12; total: 2h 26'

    BookletLiner notes by Jed Wentz & Clemens Romijn, adapted José Carlos Cabello. Languages: English, Spanish adn French

    Recorded at Maria Minor & Her Kerkje 'Blauwkapel", Utrecht y Oud Katholieke Kerk, Delft, Holland, from 1992 to 1996

    Engeering, digital edition and production: Engineering and digital edition by Bert van der Wolf; production by Peter van Dijk, Willem Kroesbergen, Ron van de Hilst, Benno Torrenga

    Design and booklet coordination José Carlos Cabello.

    Cover Luca Carlevarijs: The Bucintoro departing from S Marco, 1710.

    J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, Ca, USA.

    All tracks exclusively licensed to Cantus Records by Arcade Entertainments Holding
"Choc de Le Monde de la Musique" (Le Monde de la Musique, Francia)

"10 de Répertoire" (Répertoire, Francia)
    ✋ Please adjust first the VOLUME control on the SPEAKER ⇓ before playing ▶

    Concerto for 2 traversos, RV 533 - Allegro
    Concerto for cello, RV 41 - Allegro
    Concerto for traverso, 2 violins & cello, RV 107 - Allegro
    Concerto for violin & organ, RV 541 - Allegro
    Concerto for recorder, RV 441 - Allegro
The present CD is available in most digital platforms both in lossy (mp3) and lossless formats, and always including the complete ebooklet. If you want to purchase it in a not supported format by the mentioned platforms, or you experience any problem, please contact us at shop@cantus-records.com and we shall send you instructions on how to get it immediately.

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