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Vivaldi: The French Connection

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The French Connection is the latest in a series of fantastic discs released by Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima. Recently, they've been documenting the development of the concerto in North Italy, which amounted to three CDs of music. For all intents and purposes the concerto, as we know it, was invented in North Italy, and it was Vivaldi who crystallized and popularized the form. Thus, Chandler's main focus has always been the Red Priest.

This new disc is a fantastic collection of a variety of Vivaldi's Concerti. The connecting theme is the French influence. It is sometimes a weak theme---Vivaldi wasn't fluent in French musical style. He took aspects from French music to color his works. Certain works on this CD hardly seem to have any French influence, such as the Violin Concerto in C from opus 4. Others have a clear enough French touch. Perhaps Vivaldi's most profuse French connection was his 'Paris' concerti for strings without soloist. These works were put together for a French patron. In Vivaldi's day, works of this type were deemed desirable as serenade music for the house or garden, much as Mozart's later serenades were to be used. It is more than likely that some of these concerti were simply pulled from Vivaldi's archive of compositions, while some were expressly composed for the commission. His French touches are limited to uneven and dotted rhythms and the use of chicona movements. That said, this is a fantastic recording of a variety of high quality works. Concerti included are:

Concerto for strings in C, RV 114. This is Paris concerto #5. It is quite French, with husky dotted and Lomardic rhythms in the first movement. The slow movement is merely a few chord pause in action, while the finale is marked chicona and is an unfolding of playful variations over a bass line.

Concerto for Bassoon in F, RV 488. This is one of Vivaldi's many artistically outstanding bassoon concerti. The opening movement features a fugato and a strutting tune starting the first solo based on the fugato theme. Vivaldi has several interesting passages where rapid cascades of notes are accompanied by long notes in the violins to interesting effect. The slow movement starts with a bassoon song accompanied only by continuo. However, the orchestra comes in after the first section with dotted rhythms and returns periodically. The last movement has rustic dotted rhythms marking a French sense of dance.

Concerto for Violin in C, RV 185 (op. 4 #7) This concerto has four movements and many old-fashioned features. The opening is a sublime moment of music rather than a simple introduction. The first allegro is a fantastic example of Vivaldi's part-writing skill. The next movement is a largo of great seriousness that steers away from the solo concerto by adding another solo violin. The last movement is a simple dance with a solo cello added to create a Corellian concertino.

Concerto for Flute (with bassoon) in G, RV 438. This rustic work was earlier used as a cello concerto to great effect. In this later version the tuttis have been elaborated in addition to the solo being reworked (but not totally reinvented) for flute. The only solo that is totally redone is the slow movement (although the tutti remains the same as the cello version). This is an odd bit of borrowing, because such specialization of the solos would have hardly saved a speed demon like Vivaldi any time in comparison to writing a new work. An excellent flute concerto in all movements. The desolate slow movement stands out.

Concerto for strings in G minor, RV 157. This is Paris concerto #1. The opening allegro is in essence another chicona. It is as clever than the C major chicona, despite being shorter, and ends on an angry note. The slow movement is a harmonic web with dotted rhythms, once again. The finale is furious, here treated with perhaps a little too much caution.

Concerto fragment for Bassoon in C, RV 468. This work stands fine missing its finale. The modern and comical fast movement seems the perfect opportunity for the bassoon to show its virtues off. The slow movement is more archaic sounding, for only bassoon and continuo.

Concerto fragment for Flute in E minor, RV 432. Again, this work should not be ignored because it can stand alone as a single movement. The icy seriousness plays well to the flute's deeper side.

Chamber Concerto for Flute Violin Bassoon and Continuo in F, RV 100. This work is very effective and a favorite of mine. It has a great sense of sharing among the instruments and an entertaining rustic feeling that evokes nature at every turn. In the slow movement the bassoon frames and accompanies the flute with a memorable pattern. Just as memorable is the flute's melody. The finale gets a little wild.

Concerto for Strings in C minor, RV119. This is Paris concerto #3. This is a work of a mysterious air, with little in the way of French touches. The last movement is a crazy gigue that features a fugato.

Concerto for Violin in D, RV 211. This is one of Vivaldi's great violin concerti---ambitious, virtuosic and artistically rich. It opens with a majestic French tune but lets in stomps of the rustic. A great palette of Violin effects occur in the solos. Vivaldi gives pause for 2 cadenzas (this work may have been played in the theater and featured Vivaldi). Adrian Chandler composes cadenzas for these pauses that are quite interesting. The dramatic slow movement is mesmerizing with sicillano touches, while the finale throws all majesty off for a taste of the countryside.

This is a fantastic recording of a wide variety of interesting works by Vivaldi, highly recommended.

Tonight I've had the sheer enjoyment of seeing this group live in their world premiere performance of "Il Gran Mogol," a Vivaldi flute concerto lost to music for nearly 300 years. This was performed in Perth, Scotland along with several other concerti providing solo oppportunities that were stunning. They are one and all outstanding performers and Peter Whelan is a jewel. I've also bought "The French Connection" CD from UK Amazon last week and was astonished by the quality of the recording and the collaborative powers of La Serenissima. Knowing that many antique/historic instruments were used I worried whether the sound might be windy or crude compared with what we usually hear of Vivaldi in modern times.

It was neither of these,and after tonight I can see why. In fact, this recording offers a full sound with such lushness and depth that I played the CD a number of times through the week for everybody who would listen. Hearing this recording, I simply couldn't wait for the concert, convincing several others to accompany me -- and aren't they glad they did! The calibre of live performance was top drawer and utterly unique. Both this CD and the Concert are now high points in a lifelong love of the classics and I can only strongly recommend that you will consider The French Connection a grand addition to your musical life. If by any chance you can hear Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima in concert go by all means. The excitement they generate with their love of Vivaldi is to be treasured. They have a rapport, animation and artistic connection on stage [and with Vivaldi] that surpass nearly everything I've known of instrumental music both as a musician and as an opera producer of some years. Quite an experience.

"Say what? Vivaldi, under-rated? Type Vivaldi in the 'search' box on amazon and you'll get 6,771 hits as of today!"

Yeah, yeah, Vivaldi gets a lot of classical radio station play, but over half of all those recordings are of the same baker's dozen of his concertos, and three-quarters of those CDs are butcher work. As long as Vivaldi is devalued by tasteful and serious music appreciators - held in small esteem alongside Bach and Telemann - I would argue that he's under-appreciated. And as long as the tremendous variety of his instrumental and vocal music is ignored, his work will remain under-valued.

The English ensemble La Serenissima --(that was one nickname in the past for the city of Venice) -- is making heroic efforts to elevate the world's appreciation of Vivaldi's genius as a composer of both instrumental and vocal music. This CD, The French Connection, is entirely instrumental, including three of the concertos for strings and continuo known as the "Paris Concertos', plus two other all-string concertos which were published or re-published in France, and three concertos for bassoon or flute, probably written for the Red Priest's virtuosic young women students at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice. Take notice that several other CDs released by La Serenissima also include magnificent cantatas for soprano, sung by Mhairi Lawson.

I confess that I have a special interest in music for the bassoon. Vivaldi composed at least thirty (30!) concertos for bassoon and orchestra and for bassoon together with flute or recorder with orchestra. Concertos for woodwinds were rare in Italy; the Italian repertoire was dominated by the violins. Of all the high baroque composers of Europe, only Zelenka approaches Vivaldi in the musical respect paid to the bassoon as a virtuoso instrument, though Schuetz and Bach both wrote some gorgeous obbligatos for bassoon. Bassoonist Peter Whelan, of La Serenissima, is the virtuoso needed to make these concertos as formidably interesting as they should be. I'm in awe of his mastery of the instrument. The baroque bassoon is inherently a more 'vocal' instrument than the modern bassoon, and thus more suitable for flamboyant violinistic display. It's also more 'flexible' in tuning, for various technical reasons; under the fingers of a proficient player, that flexibility turns out to be an advantage, allowing the bassoonist to tune to the chord as intuitively as the string players. In other words, the baroque bassoon was not "tuned at the factory" to a rigid tempered scale, and that's for the better in 'historically informed' performance. Whelan's bassoon is a replica of a Venetian instrument, at the Venetian pitch of A440, built by Peter de Koningh in Holland in 2007. Flautist Katy Bircher also plays a fine replica instrument. Whelan and Bircher match the timbres and phrasings of their instruments like happy newlyweds, despite the huge gap between their pitches; such a marriage would not be possible with modern flute and bassoon.

What was Vivaldi's "French Connection"? Chiefly it was business. Vivaldi exploited his contacts with French visitors and diplomats in Italy to secure recognition in the French market, with the result that he got commissions for works to suit the "French taste". One such commission resulted in the splendid festive cantata "La Senna Festeggiante" (recorded excellently by Concerto Italiano). Lots of Vivaldi's chamber works and concertos were published and performed in France, and Vivaldi often added 'French touches' to older compositions for practical, commercial purposes. The French style, nevertheless, is essentially cosmetic in Vivaldi's music, which is always distinctly Italian and instantly recognizable as Vivaldian. The notes to this CD, written by violinist Adrian Chandler, offer an interesting account of Vivaldi's eager musical marketing through the French Connection.

La Serenissima's performances of Vivaldi are always gutsy, emotive, inventive. This recording features some startlingly forceful passages, not at all "more of the same" sprightliness of The Four Seasons; rather, they are darker, more passionate, more explosive. I can honestly say that I thought I knew Vivaldi's music well enough before, but that La Serenissima has opened my ears to the magnificence of his musical showmanship on a new level.

With my meager musical knowledge, I have known for a long time that the Italian Baroque composers such as Vivaldi influenced the French Baroque composers such as Le Clair very heavily. It is a known fact that the French of the aforesaid era simply adored Italian Baroque music. Listening to this fine sounding Avil recording of nine (9) concertos for individual strings, Bassoon, and flute along with keyboard continuo shows me that the Italians were not the only ones doing the influencing.

Although one hears Vivaldi's very recognizable "musical style" in this wonderful recording of concertos for strings, bassoon, flute and, of course, continuo, I clearly heard what I've come to recognize as the "French Baroque sound". The works contained in this marvelous recording sound, to me, so very elegant and sophisticated. At least they are as played by La Serenissima playing most beautifully and brilliantly on original instruments. I really enjoyed their "sound".

If you want to hear Vivaldi that sounds somewhat different, buy this disc. I highly recommend this splendid recording.

I like this recording very much. I heard tracks from this CD played on NPR, so I knew it would be good when I bought it.

This was the cd of the week on our Classical Public radio.........nice new insite to Vivaldi....