Customer Reviews

Vivaldi: Violin Concertos (La Tempesta di Mare)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Vivaldi is played with excitement by Europa Galante, a string and woodwind orchestra 13 strong here. Some collections of Vivaldi concertos can sound a bit monotonous, but not this carefully selected group of emotively titled short pieces. Instrumentation is varied, the playing is enthusiastic and energetic as needed, and the strings really bite in the staccato "Sea Tempest," the waves slapping hard on the boat. The 6-movement "Night" is remarkably eerie and ghostly, particularly if you can cleanse your ears of all the chromatic pieces written since and try to listen with 18th century expectations. RV 234 is full of unsettling "Apprehension" no matter what later music you have heard, displaying a harried and rapidly modulated sense of harmonic uncertainty. The brief notes with the CD are a slightly strange mixture of English and untranslated Italiano. Fresh and well worth listening closely.

I'm not a baroque expert as some of the other reviewers seem to be. I do listen to a lot of music and have heard much Vivaldi -- most frequently the Four Seasons warhorse from Opus 8. This Vivaldi is quite enjoyable, very bright and very well played, energetic and well-recorded. My personal favorite was the last work for two cellos. The slow movement is absolutely beautiful. RV 270 is also quite excellent. This is a worthwhile purchase. Sometimes when period groups play his music Vivaldi sounds mummified but not here. Recommended.

I know I have been very negative in my other reviews of Biondi-cds. Actually, I almost take it back!
He is NOT an opera-conductor, period. But he IS a brilliant violinist! His playing in the Vivaldi concertos is just outstanding. The orchestra is also amazing. I really recommends this set of concertos to anyone not familiar with the Biondi legacy!

It has been said that Vivaldi's Violin Concerti can give one the impression that he wrote the same concerto about a 1000 times. Perhaps the reason for the aforesaid impression is that there are many recordings and/or performances that exhibit little imagination in the programming of the concertos or in the playing of same. In other words, they border on being rather boring with a feeling of repeativeness. This recording is the exception. Fabio Biondi and the Europa Galante in this recording perform these concertos in a "hot" and most exciting manner that made me feel that I was hearing them for the very first time. I know that the programming of the disc also had a lot to do with me not getting bored while listening to this recording. Fabio Biondi and the Europa Galante are an "original" instrumental group without even a hint of the astringency usually associated with "original" instruments. Their playing is rather sweet in the slow movements as it is certainly very vigorous in the fast movements with no "mouth puckering" bite! I really loved the concerto for two cellos; it is very richly textured and sonorous; plus Europa Galante plays it splendidly.

Believe me, I found this Vivaldi recording, for once, to be very exciting and a most enjoyable listening experience!

If you want to hear a "hot" recording of some Vivaldi at his best, buy this disc.

Great Vivaldi program, recorded in 1999. "Concertos with titles" says the title, although the last one, RV 531 for two cellos, doesn't boast one, apparently. No matter. The selection is great, Biondi and his Europa Galante are great, playing with verve, unleashed energy, unbridled enthusiasm, coruscating colors. It's hard to imagine better - although...

I pulled out this disc from my shelves as a comparison to the disc recorded in 1988 by Concerto Köln (Concerti: La Tempesta Di Mare / La Notte), which shares four concertos: the two for recorder, the famous "La Notte" and "La Tempesta di Mare" from the opus 10 cycle, plus RV 579 "Concerto funebre" for various instruments, and the highly original RV 552 "per eco in lontano" (with echo in the distance), for solo violin and an additional violin playing in echo from afar (the product details of Concerto Köln here credit three echoing violins, which seems in accordance with score). It's not exactly the same edition that Europa Galante plays of "La Tempesta di Mare", RV 570 for recorder, oboe, bassoon and violin rather than RV 433 for recorder and strings: other than the orchestration, the finale is different. Hearing Concerto Köln on its own, and even compared to the classic version of "La Notte" and "Tempesta di Mare" by Frans Brüggen in 1979 (playing the chamber concerto editions, RV 98 and 104, Vivaldi: Flute Concerti Op.10), or Marion Verbrüggen's with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan (Vivaldi - Recorder Concertos / Verbruggen * PBO * McGegan), I thought their playing could hardly be bettered: "the drive and the energy, the individual virtuosity, the tonal beauty of ensemble both in the fast and slow movements", I wrote.

But then I listened to Europa Galante - and, yes, Concerto Köln HAVE been bettered. Biondi's band is as dynamic and enthusiastic as Concerto Köln in the first movement of "Tempesta", but, difference of edition helping, more transparent and with more instrumental character, it has more bite and bounce also in the middle Largo, and still more drive and explosiveness in the first presto of "La Notte", more colors, explosive accents and dynamic variations in the last presto - it may be the night, but it's a stormy night. The same comments apply to the two violin concertos: Concerto Köln is great and Europa Galante is even better. While there is little to choose between the two touching Larghettos from the Violin Concero in echo, the violin flourishes of Fabio Biondi in the cadential points of its first movement are incomparably imaginative, and the echo effects with the other violin(s) even better realized sonically than in Capriccio's recording. Europa Galante's finale is enthusiastically dashing where Concerto Köln's has more laid-back bonhomie. Biondi's bow runs and dances over his strings, Werner Ehrhardt's sounds almost sticky in comparison. The tempo choices in the Funeral Concerto are so different between both ensembles - Biondi brisker, almost jaunty, Ehrhardt more mourning (but the latter's final fugue is more animated) - as to make them not comparable, and both equally enjoyable.

But then - progress never stops. I've also used, in my comparison of the two recorder concertos, the version of Il Giardino Armonico, playing RV 98 and 104, part of their complete traversal of Vivaldi's Chamber Concerti (Antonio Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera, Vol. 1 (Concerti, Op. 10) - Giovanni Antonini / Il Giardino Armonico). Well, they have a thing or two to teach Biondi in terms of unleashed drive and fury, and imaginative colors. They are like a tornado blowing through your hair! They are simply incredible.

It doesn't make Europa Galante less good. Concerto Köln is great, better than great is Europa Galante, and better than Europa Galante is Il Giardino Harmonico. I'm happy to have all three. TT 64, fine liner notes.

I am a relative novice at classical music and wanted a recording of Biondi playing and conducting Vivaldi other than The Four Seasons which I already had, and which I higly recommend as well, and even first, when I stumbled onto this one at this site. I don't really have a lot that I know how to say except that I think that this one is just beautiful too. Recommended for all Vivaldi lovers whether or not you're newcomers to classical and whether or not you think you like period performance practice-after hearing Biondi and L'Europa Galante, I don't see how you could not...

Very cheerful, makes you happy to listen to it. One of the best concertos!

I know Biondi and Europa Galante since they were playing on the label Opus 111. I am a great fan of Europa galante. But...I was quite disappointed when I heard this CD. Mainly because I did not find Biondi the arrogant. But he can't certainly not played like "a little electric tornado" in the "Concerto funebre". It's the same in Concerto "Per eco in lontano". I particularly hate this music with this boring echo;the same music which is repeated from " outer space". The Concerto "Il riposo.."is perfect to relax with the dog. "L'inquietude" is outstanding. Even better than the Carmignola version on Divox Antiqua (1995). "La tempesta di mare" and La Notte" are enough strange and captivating to be considered as interesting performances. But they not be compared with the fabulous interpretation of Jean-Christophe Spinosi (Ensemble Matheus-2002-Label Naive). Finally the "Concerto for 2 cellos and orchestra" has already been recorded in 1993 by Europa Galante(album "Vivaldi Concerti" (Vol.22. Opus 111)). So no great surprise for me there. A very good CD to someone who want to discover Vivaldi with talentuous musicians.