ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
8 Concerti per violino

SALVATORE ACCARDO violin
I MUSICI

PTC 5186 130

DSD remastered

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Antonio Vivaldi’s path through life was predestined. The highly talented child was taught to play the violin at a young age by his father Giovanni Battista, and, by the age of 10, was already playing occasionally in his father’s orchestra in the Markusdom (= St. Mark’s Cathedral) in Venice. For financial reasons, his father then decided his son would become a priest, at the time a highly respected choice of vocation. Following his ordination in 1703, Vivaldi remained a practising priest for only a short while, for reasons of health. That same year, he was engaged as “maestro di violini” (violin teacher) at the Ospedale della Pietà. The orphanage housed a few hundred children, most of whom were girls. A number of them, the “figlie di coro”, also received – apart from basic schooling – specific musical training, either vocal or instrumental, at the conservatoire affiliated to the Ospedale. The performances given by these girls during the Sunday concerts were of a high standard. Vivaldi was responsible not only for rehearsals and performances, but also for providing the girls with compositions of his own – especially solo concertos, in which one instrument takes on the string orchestra, accompanied by the harpsichord, in a musical competition. After his Op. 6, Vivaldi´s concertos consist, almost without exception, of three movements (fast – slow – fast) and only a few works are preceded by a slow introduction. His concerto movements are based on the alternation of orchestral ritornels and solo sections, in which he – according to the formal structure employed – either provides the soloist(s) and the orchestra with the same themes, or differentiates between the thematic material for the soloist(s) and the orchestra. At times, he alternates his method per movement within a composition.
Vivaldi´s gigantic oeuvre consists of hundreds of concertos, including more than 230 (!) violin concertos. Thus of all composers, Vivaldi has by far provided the greatest contribution to the genre of the violin concerto. The reason for this – not just from a modern perspective – enormous number was, on the one hand, the increase in the variety of technical figures which could be played on the violin – for which Vivaldi came up with constantly innovative refinements – and, on the other hand, the already mentioned enormous musical requirements of the Ospedale concerts. The 12 Concertos Op. 7 (consisting of two oboe concertos – nos. 1 & 7 – as well as 10 violin concertos) were published by Vivaldi´s regular publisher Roger in Amsterdam, probably around 1717, immediately after the 6 Violin Concertos Op. 6. Michael Stegemann suspects that Roger may have published both collections without the knowledge of the composer: there is no collective title for either Op. 6 or Op. 7, neither do they contain a dedication of any kind (which was rather unusual in Vivaldi´s day and age). Besides, both collections contain a great deal of mistakes and inaccuracies.
The eight concertos recorded here keep to the usual fast – slow – fast movement plan. As happens with many of Vivaldi´s concertos, his Op. 7 also contains alternative movements for a number of the concertos: RV 285a has a different first movement to that of RV 285; RV 294a, which is entitled “Il ritiro” (= the seclusion; as yet, no one knows the reason behind the title), contains a different middle movement to RV 294. And RV 188 also offers various possibilities, with four alternatives in its Final-Allegro. Therefore, it is unclear which of these movements was originally intended for the concerto.

“Salvatore Accardo’s 1075 recording of eight of Vivaldi’s Op 7 concertos reconfirms the taste and sensitivity a producer such as Victorio Negri brought to his work. Made in the Music Theatre, La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, it is wonderfully balanced, the entire ensemble a living presence in this grateful acoustic. The rear channels open out the acoustic to most persuasive effect”
---Ivor Humphreys, Gramophone

“ Anyone buying this beautifully recorded SA-CD who is unfamiliar with the pieces will be amazed that they are not played as often as the ubiquitous Four Seasons. Cynics who think that no new Vivaldi record can be welcome are wrong: this one is.”
---SA-CD.net

“These performances were critically acclaimed when originally released and now they sound better than ever with a fine sense of space, instruments perfectly placed.”
--Robert Benson, classicalcdreview

“Accardo is dead center and the Italian string ensemble spread out behind him. String tone is lovely; I’ve been so spoiled by the freedom from digititus on violin tone via hi-res sources that I can hardly stand to listen to standard CDs involving violin soloists anymore - in spite of my tube amps.”
--John Sunier, audiophile audition