Vivaldi: Violin Concerto, Op. 4 No. 4 in A minor, RV 357

“Biondi's playing is characterised by impressive variety, from the crisp articulation of the outer fast movements to the mellow-toned warmth of the slow ones...While there is plenty of swooping virtuosity on display, in the end it is the slow movements which impress with their consistently haunting quality. Europa Galante provide fine support with a full string sound” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011

“This ingenious new recording includes the six of Vivaldi's Op 4 published by Walsh in 1728...and the result is a demonstration of a virtuosity that would suit English tastes. But what clinches this recording is the vivid, earthy playing by Biondi and his (Italian) forces.” The Observer, 5th June 2011

“A bracing, Baroque-pitched tutti - basses slapping, harpsichord punching, upper strings digging with their bow heels - starts the disc. Biondi's first solo strains at the leash...Il Proteo makes a distinctive conclusion. Solo violin and cello echo one another and swap blemishless long notes at close pitches to play games with the listener.” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 ****

“By the standards of the average Vivaldi violin concerto, the La stravaganza set is quite extravagant stuff, full of fantasy and experiment – novel sounds, ingenious textures, exploratory melodic lines, original types of figuration, unorthodox forms. It's heady music, and listening to its 12 concertos at a sitting, isn't a mode of listening one would recommend.
Still less so in performances as high in voltage as the present ones. There's a current trend in Baroque performance to get away from the cool- ness and objectivity which for a long time were supposed (on the whole, mistakenly) to be a part of performing practice of the time, but possibly the pendulum has swung a little wildly the other way. Perhaps here it's intended to reflect Vivaldi's own notorious freedom of performance. But anyone who's admired earlier recordings with period instruments may find these a little extravagant and hard-hitting. And they aren't helped by the resonant acoustic of the church in Poland used for the recording, which produces a full and bright sound but a boomy bass and less clear a texture than might be ideal.
That said, however, these performances by Rachel Podger are crackling with vitality and executed with consistent brilliance as well as a kind of relish in virtuosity that catches the showy spirit, the self-conscious extravagance, of this particular set of works. There are plenty of movements here where her sheer digital dexterity is astonishing – for instance, the finale of No 6, with its scurrying figures, the second movement of No 7 or the finale of No 2 with its repetitive figures and leaping arpeggios. But perhaps even more enjoyable isthe exquisitely fine detail of some of the slow movements. No 8 in D minor is perhapsthe wildest concerto of the lot, with its extraordinary lines in the first movement, the passionate, mysterious outer sections in the second and the powerful and original figuration inthe finale: that one has a performance to leave you breathless.
Another thing Podger is specially good at is the shaping of those numerous passages of Vivaldian sequences, which can be drearily predictable, but aren't so here because she knows just how to control the rhythmic tension and time the climax and resolution with logic and force. This set is certainly recommended as a fine example of a modern view of Baroque performance – and it sounds even better on SACD.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Crisp, agile and convincing.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2010 *****

“Pick of 1999.” Classic FM Magazine, January 2000

“La stravaganza is the second of the sets of concertos published during Vivaldi's lifetime. It was issued in about 1714 as the composer's Op 4 and, as with the greater number of his printed collections, contains 12 works. They are essentially violin concertos, although, to a much lesser extent than L'estro armonico, Vivaldi also provides on occasion solo parts for an additional violin or cello. These concertos have long been favourites, above all, perhaps, for the profusion of lyrically affecting slow movements, of which those belonging to Concertos Nos 1, 4, 5 and 12 are notably fine examples: in this music there's delicate nuance, poetic fantasy and sheer originality lying beneath the immediately recognisable hallmarks of the composer's outward style.
Nicholas Kraemer is no stranger to this repertory having already recorded two of Vivaldi's other printed sets, Opp 8 and 9. Those, however, were with his period-instrument Raglan Baroque Players, whereas La stravaganza is played on instruments tuned to today's standard pitch. This, paradoxically, may be closer to the pitch which Vivaldi himself used rather than the lower Baroque pitch.
Listening to this music, so full of vitality, invention and expressive tenderness, leaves one feeling exhilarated. Andrew Watkinson plays with virtuosic flair, but senses the highly developed fantasy present in every one of the concertos.
His embellishments are tasteful and restrained and his melodic line always clearly articulated. Tempos, for the most part, are effectively judged, though the almost unbearably beautiful Largo of the First Concerto, with its emotionally highly charged modulation towards the close, is perhaps a shade too slow.
The strings of the City of London Sinfonia sound tonally bright and unfailingly alert. Only in the Adagio of No 8 does the balance of the recording falter; the harpsichord's arpeggios (notably in the Adagio molto of 'Autumn') might have been allowed a little more prominence.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010