Customer Reviews

Vivaldi: Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria Vergine (Vivaldi Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
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Try a little Vivaldi for a change! The Solemn Vespers for the Feast of the Assumption are music on about the same scale as Handel's Messiah, and they are anything but solemn. The musical mood ranges from boisterous exuberance to serene exaltation, with only a splash of anguish in the alto solo of the Laudate Pueri, when mention is made of barrenness. The texts are almost all the same Latin antiphons and psalms set by Claudio Monteverdi in his Vespers of 1610. A single year of composition can't be assigned to these Vespers, however, since the whole set is a hypothetical reconstruction drwn from various sources of Vivaldi's sacred music. Yes, Virginia, Vivaldi was a priest, and wrote quite a lot of sacred music, together with at least 46 operas. The Four Seasons, universally execrated as the choice for "May I put you on hold" in every dentist's phone in the world, is only the tiniest smidgeon of Vivaldi's output. Scoffers, get over it! The music of the Vespers purls forth in seamless melody and contrapuntal invention like the sparkling waters of the Trevi Fountain. To spurn Vivaldi is to declare that you don't like fun! Besides, it's all in Latin, so you don't need to politely ignore any pious hogwash.

The singers of Concerto Italiano are in fact all Italian - Gemma Bertagnolli, Roberta Invernizzi, Anna Simboli, Sara Mingardo, Gianluca Ferrarini, Matteo Belloto, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini. Just singing their names would give me a spritz of 'bel canto.' If you're familiar with the superb recordings by Concerto Italiano of Monteverdi's eight books of madrigals, these singers will be familiar names to you already, and will amount to a pretty good guarantee of the vocal virtuosity of this performance. The principal violinist is also Italian, Antonio De Secondi. Just as the best performances of Handel usually feature English singers and choristers, it seems to me that the Italians have a special feeling for Vivaldi. I believe they call it "Gioia".

The Vespers, by the way, are not included in the Brilliant Classics Box of Vivaldi Masterworks, except for the Magnificat. This performance is far superior to that of the ensemble in the box. I should point out that, as a conjectural Vespers, these two CDs are more a concert selection of fine individual pieces than a unified work. Alessandrini has chosen to order them following the fairly standard liturgical sequence for Marian Vespers. Nothing wrong with that, but the result is that the parts are greater than the sum.

This release is first rate both from a performance and recording aspect. The vocalists are excellent and the orchestra's performance is flawless. I agree with the previous reviewer. Let the Italians handle Vivaldi. I will be purchasing other release in this edition.

This album is first class all the way. Superb singing, particularly from Sara Mingardo. Her contralto goes all the way to your soul. Concerto Italiano plays Vivaldi like nobody else. Recording is excelent. Very highly recomended.

This is one of the great recordings in the Naive label's project to record many of the lesser-known works in the collection at Turin (discovered and preserved in the first half of the 20th century). This recording and that of the opera 'La Verita in Cimento' have changed my opinion and assessment of Vivaldi from somone who (as Stravinsky said) 'wrote the same concerto hundreds of times' to a composer of beautiful vocal lines - at least as arresting as Handel at his best.

The Cum Dederit from Nisi Dominus is an especially lovely example, with a long alto line over an orchestral accompaniment of muted strings playing a Siciliano. The excerpt above hints at the beauty of the piece, but you never actually get to hear Sara Mingardo's rich alto.

The other reviews are dead-on; this is one recording I return to time and again.

This is a large collection of some of the most beautiful classical music I have ever heard. I particularly like the singing and playing style using the minimum of vibrato, giving an angelic quality to the music, and in many of the solos are obviously extremely difficult to sing which adds to the excitement.

Words are not enough for this music and these two discs. I just mention to Mingardo's Nisi Dominus and Ýnvernizzi's "Sternite, angeli" . That second aria is wonderful example of religious joy. And Invernizzi's voice and interpreting incredibly beatiful. I wish we have 10 stars for this work!

I absolutely agree with the previous reviewer. While the contralto does stand out, this entire work is performed flawlessly and is well worth the price.

From the opening sinfonia, itself a truly great piece, to Roberta Invernizzi's spine shivering supranic acmes on track 6, this celebration of faith is a true classic of the italian artistic tradition, (if you ignore the fact that antonio vivaldi was a red haired german priest) Voice and music with the stops removed.

Allesandrini needs no other entry on his resume, he eschews the embellishments once thought to improve this wonderful ancient music, and trusts the genius of the prolific baroque master to span the centuries.

With little effort, this could be adapted to theme wedding service, so beautiful the words and music. Much as Pach's canon is used, this work will eventually be re-discovered and will be a popular theme for celebrations of love and purity for time to come.

Other reviewers have already praised these discs and I can only agree. The Seasons is not all Vivaldi composed - indeed, these recordings suggest that as popular as he is, he is greatly underrated - he should be in the pantheon inhabited by Bach and Handel. I would like to add that I think the sound of these CDs is simply magnificent - my audio system never sounded so good. I am led to wonder whether the quality of the source is not more important than any other aspect of sound reproduction. Highly highly recommended.