VIVALDI 0

Violin Concertos — in D minor, RV235; in E flat, RV251; in E flat, RV258; in F, RV296; in B minor, RV386; B minor, RV389

Giuliano Carmignola bqvn Venice Baroque Orchestra / Andrea Marcon Sony Classical SK87733 (72 minutes: DOD)

Some of Vivaldi's mature and most beguiling concertos superbly performed

The Venice Baroque Orchestra's first recording of late Vivaldi violin concertos (A/01) was highly enjoyable, and so is this one, for pretty much the same reasons. To recap, Vivaldi stopped publishing violin concertos in his fifties, preferring thereafter to sell them individually in manuscript to anyone who called with the right money. While this presumably improved his personal finances, it was not so helpful to the long-term reputation of the concertos involved, as with no opus numbers or nicknames, they were way down the list for revival when the 20th century took Vivaldi to its heart.

Thus a whole facet of the composer's work has long been under-appreciated, which is a pity because compared to the pithy energy of the earlier published concertos these works are richer, more ruminative, perhaps simply more beautiful. There is evidence, too, of Vivaldi's experience in vocal music (virtually non-existent at the time of his first published set), detectable in a new gracefulness of melody and a tendency to adopt some of the mannerisms of the fashionable Neapolitan opera composers. The first movement of RV258 has a distinctly preClassical sound to it, while its second movement shows an operatic concentration of emotion. Yet the old violinist trickery is still there, even if it is more attuned to the overall tenor of the music. This may be the Red Priest with pipe and slippers, but he can still make the notes jump when the bow is in his hand.

As we have come to expect from this soloist and orchestra, these are performances of immense accomplishment and poise. Giuliano Carmignola is a silky player whom Vivaldi's most difficult violin-writing cannot perturb, but he is more than just a technician who can whizz through scales and arpeggios in his sleep; throughout, his playing displays a sweetly nourished tone and a fine poetic sense which is entirely in keeping with the music's relaxed beauty. The sensitively attentive strings of the Venice Baroque Orchestra, superbly recorded as ever, make the perfect match. Exquisite stuff.

Lindsay Kemp