COMPOSERS: Vivaldi
LABELS: NAIVE
ALBUM TITLE: Vivaldi
WORKS: Grosso Mogul, RV 208; L'Inquietudine, RV 234; Il Sospretto, RV 199; La Caccia, RV 362; Il Riposo, RV 270; Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 332
PERFORMER: Academia Montis Realis/ Enrico Onofri (violin)
CATALOGUE NO: OP 30417
Vivaldi’s violin concertos, whether
for one or two soloists, lie at the heart
of his music. Although most of them
– some 240 or more in all – have
been recorded over the years, there
is still a significant number which
have not and, in due course, most of
these will appear in this enterprising
Vivaldi Edition. This new issue,
though, features six concertos which
have been recorded many times
over, two of them, RV 332 and 362,
having been included by Vivaldi in
his famous Op. 8 set of concertos
containing The Four Seasons.
Enrico Onofri is a player of
dazzling virtuosity, whose intonation
seldom falters and whose imaginative
responses to some of Vivaldi’s
most poetic utterances thrilled
and touched me. Yet I also found
occasional disappointments, the
greatest of them being what seems
to me an absurdly brisk tempo for
the opening movement of the muted
string Il riposo (RV 270). Onofri’s
performance reflects neither the ‘rest’
of the subtitle nor the association
with Christmas with which
Vivaldi later imbued it. The tender,
intimate spirit of this opiate piece is
captured with far greater charm and
conviction by Giuliano Carmignola
whose performance takes a full
minute longer (Divox CDX 79605).
Otherwise readers will find much
here to fuel their imagination in
solo and ripieno playing alike.
Nicholas Anderson