Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor for violin, organ & strings RV541

Loiselle and Boucher have selected transcriptions for cello and organ of some Vivaldi’s well-known works. Loiselle appears regularly at various music festivals and events in Canada and has played as a guest soloist with many different orchestras. Vincent Boucher is a very active recitalist. In 2002 he was awarded the prestigious Prix d’Europe by the Académie de musique du Québec.

This project is a collaboration between the two organists Margherita Gianola and Silvio Celeghin with Francesco Fanna, conductor and director at the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, in which large part of Vivaldi’s manuscripts and scores are archived. The CD is a collection of Concertos where the organ is the absolute protagonist as soloist and in an interesting interaction with string instruments. The title of the release is inspired by the two organs of the XVIII century in the Basilica dei Frari in Venice which are exceptionally appropriate for playing Vivaldi’s music. The Callido (1795) is very versatile and enhances the whole sound, while the Piaggia (1732), the only organ in Venice made while Vivaldi was still alive, is elegant, light and full of verve.

Among Vivaldi’s 600 or so concertos, those for keyboard – organ or harpsichord are surprisingly small in number for this most prolific of baroque composers. Of these works, nine in all, there are also several rather tantalising fragments and odd movements, and all betray in the keyboard writing, the composer’s genius as a violinist. The right hand plays violinistic figurations, whilst the left more often than not plays a simple bass line. Interestingly, many of these concertos are arrangements by Vivaldi of concertos for other forces with the exception of RV541 and 542 - both composed as violin and organ concertos. The 2nd movement of RV541 is especially effective with the organ accompanying the violin with a discreet bass line and three-note chords on the right hand. Vivaldi calls for an improvised cadenza in the finale.

Recording made in 2007.

Lesser known Vivaldi.