Vivaldi: Recorder Concerto in C major, RV444

This milestone of the Arcana catalogue returns with new artwork, new catalogue number (previously A330) and a new cover featuring ‘Boy with Flute’ by the Venetian painter Domenico Maggiotto. All the recorder concertos on this CD were written expressly for flauto or flautino and show the imagination, delicacy, freshness, virtuosity and sometimes even melancholy, which Vivaldi put into his writing for this instrument. Oberlinger has intentionally chosen tuning at 440 Hz since, in Venice, in Vivaldi’s time, tuning was higher than in neighbouring musical centres such as Rome. With this high tuning, the sound of the gentle gut strings becomes clearer and more brilliant. Dorothee Oberlinger is an expressive virtuoso who is seen as one of the best recorder players in the world. She collaborates particularly intensively with the top Italian period ensemble Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, with whom she has given many concerts throughout Europe. Their joint CD of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi with violinist Giuliano Carmignola, has received numerous awards from the international musical press including Diapason d’or de l’année.

Stravinsky famously quipped that Vivaldi didn’t write 400 concertos, rather he wrote one concerto 400 times. Rather unfair, though witty. For many people though, Vivaldi is the composer of The Four Seasons (the first four of the twelve concertos Op.8), and maybe the famous Gloria. He is a composer who repays closer attention. There are some superb concertos in his large output, and some of them were sufficiently striking enough to attract the attention of J.S. Bach and Johann Quantz.

His concertos are remarkable not only for the wealth of invention and the outstanding quality of the music, but also for the amazing range of instruments he wrote for. This CD is devoted to concertos for sopranino and alto recorders. Two of his greatest concertos ‘Tempesta di mare’ (Storm at Sea) and ‘La notte’ (Night) feature on the programme.

The recorder only features in a handful of Vivaldi’s concertos. Well known for being an exceptional violinist, Vivaldi’s innovative style is apparent in his compositions for other instruments too. He used the same technique as when he composed for the violin, using a musical language marked by gigantic tonal ranges whether or not they were models for this in their respective repertoire. The result is a concert repertoire that is madly virtuosic and music of the greatest variety. Some could even say his recorder concertos represent the greatest challenge in the baroque repertoire.

Michael Schneider, regarded as one of today’s best German recorder players, presents his own interpretation of this fascinating group of works.