Antonio Vivaldi

Following their very successful release of Telemann “Baroque Gypsies”, the Ensemble Caprice and Matthias Maute have returned to the works of Vivaldi.

This CD also includes excerpts from Zelenka’s oratorio Gesù al calvario. “…imaginative and enjoyable for its ideas as well as for lively and accomplished playing.” International Record Review. (Telemann).

The works on this CD show the mandolin in many different lights. Each composer, whether baroque or contemporary, showcases expression found in the instrument. Included are concertos by Paisello, Vivaldi, Dorman, Kuwahara, Gardella and Avital. Avi Avital is interested in all aspects of music and is one of the most multi-faceted mandolin players of our time.

Digital Recording at Auditorio Manuel de Falla (Forma Antiqva), Granada, Spain, July 2011

Digital Recording at Sear Sound (Theo Bleckmann and Uri Caine), NYC, USA, September 2011

Aarón Zapico and his baroque ensemble, Forma Antiqva, interpret Vivaldi’s concertos with an entirely new approach, on period instruments. Aitor Hevia (violin) slips into various leading parts, mimics birds, a farmer’s boy, from who the storm wants to steal the annual harvest, becomes the game being hunted to death and blusters like freezing wind over the frozen land. Vivaldi, who was born during an earthquake, creates four episodes, each in three parts, corresponding with his poems.

Theo Bleckmann and Uri Caine compose these sonnets and present here as a première recording ‘The Four Seasons Sonnets’: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Bleckmann and Caine act as the narrators for Vivaldi’s AudioFilm. The Dutch painter and concept artist Marcel van Eeden is inspired by Zapico’s ‘Four Seasons’ and creates for this musical cycle eight new drawings.

Four hands, two harpsichords and a positive organ.

Pastoral symphonies and songs of birds, clocks and glowing orchestral textures, Hispanic frenzy and crazy Viennese waltzes, tender serenades, delirious counterpoint: pure pleasure, sheer caprice.

What you hear here might have resonated amid the wood panelling of a living room in the 18th century salon. Or, not quite: the ‘Four pieces’ of the Viennese composer Peter Planyavsky barge in, mischievous and impertinent but beautifully written for the harpsichord.

The Amsterdam edition of 1725 was long the principal source, but the concertos of the Four Seasons have also survived in another form – a handwritten version now known as the Manchester manuscript, since the original is housed in the Henry Watson Music Library, Manchester. This CD is that version, brought to life by the Daniel Sepec and performed on a 1780 baroque violin.

Duo Granat, with Tamara Granat from Poland and Daniel Propper from Sweden, has developed an intensive concert career. 2011 saw the duo giving concerts at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw and touring the Gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Their last CD of French music (DUX0739) became highly acclaimed by critics and radio stations, even becoming play listed at Classic FM.

Vittorio Ghielmi is known for the intensity and versatility of his musical interpretations and for his new approach to the viola da gamba and the sound of the early music repertoire. His ensemble, Il Suonar Parlante, is devoted to investigating early music repertoire and has also performed with jazz, flamenco and traditional Asian musicians.