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This is the second volume of Bassoon concertos to be released by Naïve as part of the prestigious “Vivaldi Edition”. As with the first, the recording features the outstanding combination of the soloist Sergio Azzolini, an acknowledged expert in baroque performance, and the critically acclaimed period instrument group L’Aura Soave.
Internationally renowned bassoonist Sergio Azzolini was born in 1967 in Bolzano, Italy. As a baroque bassoon player he is a member of the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, and appears regularly as soloist with L’Aura Soave Cremona, Sonatori della Gioiosa Marca and La Stravaganza Köln. He is also a member of the ensemble Parnassi Musici.
The group L’Aura Soave was formed in 1995 by lutenist and musicologist Diego Cantalupi with the aim of exploring Italian vocal and instrumental traditions and little-known Italian composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among the noted soloists with whom it appears are Emma Kirkby, Barbara Hendricks, Sophie Daneman, and Nuria Rial.
In the last few years L’Aura Soave has begun a close collaboration with the bassoonist Sergio Azzolini, whose role as both soloist and director has greatly influenced the orchestra. Its first recording of bassoon concertos by Vivaldi (OP30496) for the Naïve Vivaldi Edition was awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or in France as best instrumental release of 2010.
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 499
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 472
I. Allegro non molto
II. Andante molto
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 490
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in G minor, RV 496
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, RV 504
I. Allegro ma poco
II. Largetto
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in E flat major, RV 483
I. Presto
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 470
I. Allegro non molto
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro
January 2012
“The performances are very much in the modern Italian manner: period instruments played with gusto, a terrific sense of attack pervading outer movements. Azzolini burbles and rasps away merrily, yet there's poetry aplenty in slow movements, where he displays an unsurpassed palette of tonal colour...[I] cannot imagine these concertos better played, with such infectious exuberance.”
March 2012
“Azzolini is on excellent form again and seems to have lost none of the infectious eagerness with which he started out...[He] catches all these moods and is everywhere tireless in avoidance of the routine - listen to the dramatic pause before the last ritornello in RV496, where others might simply have ploughed on head-down...Has anyone ever grabbed hold of this music so wholeheartedly?”
Classical Music
2nd June 2012
*****
“A tour de force, Azzolini's command of these concertos is breathtaking, maximising the power of Vivaldi's music with an expressive palette beyond that often expected of period instruments...Azzolini switches effortlessly from full-blooded pyrotechnics to heart-rending pathos, always capturing the prevailing mood of the writing...L'Aura Soave Cremona matches Azzolini's verve and panache at every step.”
Early Music Today
2nd June 2012
*****
“Azzolini's command of these concertos is breathtaking, maximising the power of Vivaldi's music with an expressive palette byeond that often expected of period instruments...Azzolini switches effortlessly from full-blooded pyrotechnics to heart-rending pathos, always capturing the prevailing mood of the writing.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
I. Allegro
