Customer Reviews

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera, Vol. 1 (Concerti, Op. 10) - Giovanni Antonini / Il Giardino Armonico

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People who love Vivaldi, as I do, sense that he composed the music to be played like this. Maybe Vivaldi didn't play every note exactly like this but Giardino Armonico and Vivaldi are linked in spirit. They impart to this music the equal parts of surging power, delicate sublimness, joyous originality, and unbounded diversity Vivaldi intended. Vivaldi gems, the short phrases or single notes that suddenly appear to delight and mezmorize the audience, abound.

Indeed every piece on this CD is a show stopper. If Vivaldi composed today, or maybe fifty years from now, he would bring the house down.

Anyone who does not love Antonio Vivaldi after listening to any Giardino Armonico performance just does not get it.

Transcriptions of these concertos have been published in Vivaldi's opus 10, for transverse flute. Here, Il Giardino Armonico plays the original version of these concertos, which features recorder, oboe and bassoon parts. These early versions are, in my opinion, far superior in almost every point to the opus 10 concertos. Il Giardino Armonico's readings of Vivaldi are here more exhilirating than ever: the Red Priest's furious, energetic hand is certainly well served by such interpretations. The first two concertos, "The Storm at Sea" and "The Night" are of course the main attractions. I personally dislike the third ("The Goldfinch"), particularly in this rendering with sopranino recorder. But the overall qualities of this album make it a must-have, especially for those who are familiar with op. 10, and of course for the fans of Il Giardino Armonico. Discover Vivaldi in all his imperiousness.

Vivaldi's chamber concertos have everything that lovers of Vivaldi love in Vivaldi: the instrumental colors, the melodic invention, the breathtaking atmosphere in the slow movements, the irresistible verve and exuberant drive in the fast ones. Because they are "da camera" (chamber) doesn't mean they are small-scale or "Tafelmusik" suitable as background music for mealtimes. They are fully-fledged Vivaldi concertos, each with one or many predominant instrument(s) assuming the role of soloist. Here, in volume 1 of the 4-volume series, we get the flute concertos opus 10. They don't sound "chamber" in the least, not in this recording. In fact "La Notte" and "Il Giardinello" (with its bird calls) could be part of the Four Seasons. It is also a matter of interpretation, and sonics. Il Giardino armonico are afforded stupendous presence by the sound engineer (kudos Lucienne Rosset), and they play exuberantly and explosively. This is uplifting and exhilarating music-making. The advantage of the chamber ensemble though is that it lets you revel even more than in Vivaldi's "big" concertos in the pleasures of timbral color.

Il Giardino Armonico's first disc, in 1988, not yet on Teldec, was already a selection of those chamber concertos, recorded for Nuova Era (see my review of Antonio Vivaldi: Chamber Concertos - RV103 / RV105 / RV107 / RV101 / RV98 "La Tempesta di Mare" / RV86 - Il Giardino Armonico or Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera / Il Giardino Armonico). It was already excellent, but this recording of the complete concertos, made between 1990 (volume 1) and 1992 (volume 4), is even better: they have marginally more bite, drive and color. I don't know if that's the way they played it in Vivaldi's time, but I sure am happy that it is the way they play it now.

And it's not even that I can recommend particularly one volume from the four as a "best" introduction. All these compositions are so exhilaratingly entertaining, it's like Scarlatti's Sonatas: if Vivaldi had composed 550 of them, I'd still be telling you to listen to all of them: each offers its rewards.

But still, this volume 1 here is a great place to start. The Concerti op. 10 are one of Vivaldi's most popular cycles - but it's not just the music, mind you. Il Gardino Armonico - they are simply IN-CRE-DI-BLE. I did some comparative listening on the two most famous concertos from the collection, "La Tempesta di Mare" and "La Notte". I pulled out of my shelves Frans Brüggen's classic 1979 recording (Vivaldi: Flute Concerti Op.10), Marion Verbrüggen's 1990 recording of various recorder concertos with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan (Vivaldi - Recorder Concertos / Verbruggen * PBO * McGegan), one of the early discs of Concerto Köln (1988) which includes these two (Con Tempesta Di Mare/Con Notte) and same with Fabio Biondi, Vivaldi: Violin Concertos (La Tempesta di Mare). Concerto Köln and Biondi play not the chamber concerto versions, but those for full orchestra, RV 439 in Notte and two variants for Tempesta, RV 433 for Concerto Köln (and so does Verbrüggen - the finale is melodically different as well) and RV 570 for Biondi, but that's of no import. These versions are all good, Brüggen with verve and color, Verbrüggen sometimes a bit too poised and civilized maybe in some of the fast movements, but with a fine playful lightness, Concerto Köln all drive and raging fury (and more resonant strings), and Biondi even more exuberant and driving. Anybody would be satisfied with any of these, and I even thought, at first, that Concerto Köln couldn't be bettered - until I heard Biondi. But then you listen to Il Giardino armonico. Woof! There's a thing or two they can teach even Biondi in terms of drive and fury (and that's two or three to Concerto Köln, and five or six to the Dutch teams). This is like a tornado running through your hair. And their sonic invention in the slow movements of La Notte is stupendous. This is not just sleeping, this is a night full of nightmares. Some listeners are likely to find it way over the top. Yes, precisely, it is way over the top, and that's what makes it unique, breathtaking, stupendous: it also towers above everybody else.

The other instalments in the series are Antonio Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera, Vol. 2 - Il Giardino Armonico, Concerti Da Camera 3 and Antonio Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera, Vol. 4 - Il Giardino Armonio. All four volumes have been reissued in a single box, Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera (Complete Recording).